In the Internet era and politically bifurcated societies, is constructive disagreement, a concept that is at the heart of traditional Talmud study, even possible anymore? JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin admits that he’s skeptical about whether political discourse can be anything other than a zero-sum game in the current atmosphere.
Tobin is joined on this week’s episode by one person who believes that it doesn’t have to be that way. Daniel Taub, a mediator, writer and former Israeli diplomat, is the author of Beyond Dispute: Rediscovering the Jewish Art of Constructive Disagreement. According to Taub, the tools to bring people closer together can be found in those that are part of the Jewish tradition. What’s more, he points out that the methods used in Talmud study arose out of a period of even worse Jewish disunity during the last years of the Temple era, some 2,000 years ago, and the period that followed its destruction.
Rather than engage in flight or fight, by which people either hone their arguments to defeat opponents or just avoid them, Taub suggests that Talmud study models a third way. “Argument,” he says, “is an engine for creative exploration of new ideas. And the trick is to realize that the value is that the truth is not within me, and the truth is not within you. The truth is in the argument. The beautiful phrase that the rabbis used was that of ‘argument for the sake of heaven.’ It’s a joint enterprise. And I think we sometimes lose sight of it, and I think it’s very important, there’s a sobering reminder if we go back 2,000 years.”
Many approach arguments by viewing the other side as an adversary and demonizing them. Taub believes that even in the face of strong disagreement, the key is to “reframe that thinking to realize that they are actually a partner.”
He also thinks that it’s too easy to blame polarization on social media, which has created an entire set of new challenges. But, he says, it also “creates extraordinary opportunities for those of us who really do want to broaden our horizons, who do want to enlarge our thinking. I think, however, it does hide a few things. It hides the fact that having a serious conversation is a difficult and time-consuming enterprise.”
On the question of where to draw the line about disagreement and to regard some points of view as beyond the pale, Taub again looks to Jewish tradition. “The thrust of the rabbinic tradition is to be open, to call in rather than to call out,” he says.
In terms of contemporary and deeply divided Israeli society right now, Taub remains optimistic because “we have an extraordinary younger generation. And you see people who have spent time together at the front in Gaza coming back to Israeli society, and they simply cannot understand the tribal nature of the differences that divide the society.”
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