This Shabbat, we read the Torah portion of Lech Lecha, in which God calls Abraham to “go forth” from his land, his birthplace, and his father’s house. It is the beginning of the Jewish story. Our rabbis suggest that the beginning of our story was an act of dissent.
Rabbinic commentaries imagine the young Abraham in his father’s idol shop, smashing the idols everyone around him worshipped. Polytheism was the social and spiritual norm of his world. Abraham saw what others could not, or would not, see. Before he was the father of a People, Abraham was the first person willing to challenge conventional wisdom and practice.
According to other rabbinic traditions, Abraham didn’t just smash idols in an act of rebellion; he saw a world on fire and felt a personal responsibility to engage with it. He was, in turn, called to build a People that would become a blessing for all of humanity and for the world. Because he slowed down enough to see clearly, because he cared enough to act and to keep moving forward, even when the destination wasn’t clear.
That willingness to be both countercultural and community-minded has defined us ever since. That is our legacy, and it is now our responsibility.
I’ve been thinking about Abraham since last Friday, when I sat down (on Zoom) for our latest “In Conversation” with Eitan Hersh, Professor of Political Science at Tufts University. I wanted to talk with him about the upcoming midterm elections, which are on many of our minds and which bring up divisive, hard-to-talk-about issues for our community.
Eitan has become a countercultural voice in his own field. His course on American Conservatism grew into Tufts’ new Center for Expanding Viewpoints in Higher Education. What makes Eitan provocative is not the position he takes. It is his insistence that students engage seriously with views they don’t like or share.
He brought that same discipline to our conversation. He didn’t take political sides, and he didn’t pile on to what so many of us already see and fear. We talked about those fears, but he challenged us in three ways.
First, things are not always as they seem. Eitan urged us to look past our news feeds and social circles. In both political parties, candidates who openly pushed antisemitic conspiracy theories have lost their primaries. Both parties are still in a battle for their souls, and we still have a role to play in determining the outcome. This is a frightening time for very real reasons. The challenge is not to underreact or overreact, but to see clearly enough to respond well.
Second, stay in the conversation. Even when we agree on the problem, we often disagree on strategy and on how much risk we can tolerate to solve it. Even when we agree on values and commitments, we often disagree on how to prioritize them when they come into conflict with one another. That is not a reason to stop talking. It is the reason we have to keep talking and keep asking: what are we really arguing about?
Third, the politics that matter most often is local. In Politics Is for Power, Eitan separates “political hobbyism” (reading, posting, worrying, arguing) from the slower work of building power. “If you’re not in the game,” he told us, “someone else is in the game.” Instead of an hour of doomscrolling, what if we called, texted, or wrote to our local officials? It makes a difference.
We saw this kind of engagement on Monday night in Cambridge, when over 700 community members showed up, spoke, wrote to city councilors, or signed a petition against two BDS proposals that demonize the Jewish State and divide the city. Many of these community members are part of the network of grassroots leaders that we are building and supporting through CJP’s Center for Combating Antisemitism, and working closely with JCRC and other partners. They are already making a difference in city politics, in K-12 schools, and in their workplaces.
I am so grateful to these leaders who are, like Abraham, exhibiting the courage to be countercultural and to stand up for what is right even when it is unpopular. They are, as Eitan, says, “in the game,” reminding us that we all have a role to play to ensure that we remain a strong, proud, joyful Jewish community. Let’s follow their lead.