#807 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Thursday November 30)
Good morning,
FROM THE FRYING PAN INTO THE FIRE
There is a Russian proverb that “I ran from the wolf and ran into the bear.”
This proverb is a permutation of others, like “from the frying pan into the fire” or “be careful what you wish for.” I think this proverb is applicable to any number of choices that are having to be made these days. One complex situation leads to another. Witness, for example, the effect the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), well-meaning in attempting to address environmental concerns, has had on the ability to build additional workforce housing. Or consider that making it nearly impossible to build nuclear power plants, in response to legitimate concerns about possible risks (many of which have declined with new technologies), has led to increased reliance on hydroelectric and hydrocarbon energy generation.
HOLDING EMPATHY FOR BOTH JEWS AND ARABS IN THE MIDDLE EAST
The events of October 7th and the antisemitism we’re seeing on social media and college campuses have been weighing heavily on me. So, too, is the carnage unleashed by Israel on the Gazan people. A couple of weeks ago, there was an article in the New York Times, highlighting the massive number of civilian deaths, particularly of children, since the Israeli response began. It is heartbreaking.
It is hard not to be bombarded by news and commentary—from the usual sources—The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Atlantic, NPR, not to mention all the Jewish sources—the Forward, the Jewish Journal, Tablet, Times of Israel, Jerusalem Post. Every pundit in the world has weighed in multiple times and I (and I expect you) can’t read enough as we try to understand and empathize with the events of these fraught days.
I have found The Ezra Klein Show podcasts to be remarkably clear, moving, balanced, and informed by his Jewish values. From his personal reflections right after the murderous attacks of October 7th through a series of conversations with the likes of Yossi Klein Halevi, Palestinian scholars, and everyone in-between. These inquiries are thoughtful, sometimes confirming my thinking but often challenging and even painful. He comes with a political perspective but also from a Jewish one—talking about his thinking as he drives his kids to Hebrew School, reflections on the Jewish experience, the seeming indifference of some to the crimes committed against Israelis on October 7th, the possible “non-Jewishness” of the Israeli response, and his anguish regarding the antisemitism we’re seeing. You don’t have to agree with everything he presents, but he does so in a way that reminds us of how difficult these days have been and how it sometimes requires us to consider events through a lens that is not merely partisan, political, or even moral—but one that is imbued with Jewish values, American values, humanitarian values, and images of the Israel we have known, the issues it currently has, and the possibilities for what it can be.
“The Sermons I Needed to Hear Right Now”) considers some sermons of Rabbi Sharon Brous around the current state of the Middle East. Her perspectives are framed in a way that I find both universalist and Jewish—one that can hold the pain we feel for our brothers and sisters in Israel and our pain for the Palestinians in our hearts at one time. I encourage taking a break this week to listen to a little anguish, a little hope, and a little Torah. Here it is:
PARENTING, THEN AND NOW
Andrea and I have been watching For All Mankind, the reimagining of the space program that creates an alternative history of the space program, society, and world events. The first season begins in 1969, with the lunar landing, with each decade following this alternative history decade-by-decade. Each decade is intricately drawn with news, fashion, automobiles, and popular culture.
I could go on but the point of this Musing is the perspective on parenting shown in the show. Parenting was quite different back then. Kids were kids, and not nascent adults, whose every opinion and whim are indulged as if they were oracles of wisdom before having lived a moment in the adult world, with adult responsibilities.
The kids in this show were not coddled. It was jarring to see 1960s parents who slapped their kids when they were sassed. Parents even inquired of school administrators as to why they did not pursue physical punishment. I certainly do not condone corporal punishment but the scenes certainly evidenced a different perspective on bad behavior and appropriate consequence.
This reminded me of the story of a friend who had misbehaved in school back in the 1980s. He was hauled into the principal’s office. His mother was called in for this meeting. The principal announced to his mother that they either were going to suspend the kid or have him do a month of detention after school. His mother paused and asked, “Can’t you do both?” These days, the mother would be up in arms, not waiting to hear the case against her child, demanding no consequence for her child and retribution against the teacher who reported him.
Have a great week,
Glenn