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February 10, 2012
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February 8, 2012
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February 6, 2012
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Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
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Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
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January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
Orwell, Santayana, and Me
By Rabbi Yonason Goldson
Witnessing first-hand how historical revisionism threatens the foundations of cultural integrity
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.
No one understood the phenomenon of culture war better than George Orwell. He recognized the former Soviet Union as something far more insidious than merely an Evil Empire. He saw it as the carrier of a slowly advancing contagion of cultural astigmatism which, unstopped, would infect all humankind with the madness of moral blindness.
Arguably the most important novel of the twentieth century, Orwell's classic 1984 depicts how an all-powerful state controlled media has eroded the most basic distinctions between good and evil. Under the authority of Big Brother, the Ministry of Truth rewrites history not only from day to day but from hour to hour. Nothing remains constant, nothing can be believed, nothing has meaning, nothing is worth fighting for. Confusion leads to apathy; apathy leads to compliance; compliance leads to tyranny. This is the world Orwell foresaw if the seductive and fanciful ideals of Soviet-style socialism were allowed to play out to their natural conclusion.
And what would Orwell say about what our society has become? Political correctness forbids us from speaking uncomfortable truths. Moral equivalence prohibits us from praising good or condemning evil. Effortlessly, our latter-day prophets spin every issue in conformance with preconceived ideologies, unwilling to contemplate the logic of any position that challenges their political axioms.
CONTROLLING THE PAST
In 1995, the Smithsonian was forced to scrap an exhibit commemorating the 50th anniversary of the first atomic bomb detonation over Hiroshima, Japan. In their desire to indict America for introducing nuclear proliferation to the world, the architects of the exhibit neglected to present the historical context in which the decision to drop the bomb was made, a decision that ended a war of Japanese aggression and saved over a million lives on both sides.
Nor is historical revisionism a weapon limited to the arsenal of the ideological left. In 2003, right-wing columnist Ann Coulter published her book Treason, in which she attempted to resurrect the execrable communist hunter Joseph McCarthy as a hero and patriot. This was too much even for conservative columnist David Horowitz, one of Ms. Coulter's clients, who chastised her for discrediting conservatives and conservatism.
And let's not forget the endless string of malignant fictions promulgated as fact by the Palestinian media in an attempt to convince the world that Arab culture, rather than Jewish culture, has historical claim to the Land of Israel.
These are just some of the most spectacular examples of recent times, but countless lesser cases slip by with little notice. I was myself embroiled in a recent flap after another community rabbi published the following in our local Jewish newspaper:
With great deference, respect and affection, Moses welcomes his father-in-law and invests himself fully in being present to Jethro, inquiring about his journey and his welfare. But what of [Moses' wife] Tzipporah? And what of [his sons] Gershom and Eliezer? No tears; no embracing; no blessings. The silence is deafening - and heartrending. Moses is totally unmoved, emotionless, detached. He does not even acknowledge the presence of his own family. It is as if they are invisible - nonentities.
I responded with my own article, explaining my colleague's failure to understand that the Torah is not an almanac or a chronicle from which we can demand every detail for the satisfaction of our idle curiosity. The Torah is a blueprint for legal and moral conduct that provides only the information essential to its own purpose. We aren't told what Moses was wearing, but we don't assume he was naked.
Did Moses greet his wife and children as well? In all likelihood he did, even if the Torah chose not to report it rather than distract us from the immediate subject of Jethro, the righteous gentile whose awe for the Jewish people and their divine mission compelled him to throw in his lot with them.
CONTROLLING THE PRESENT
But there is a much more significant, disturbingly Orwellian issue here. The eagerness to concoct out of thin air such wholesale denigration of Judaism's most revered figure reveals a frighteningly deep wellspring of moral ambivalence. What does it say of our cultural integrity when we casually transform our heroes into villains? How can we expect to chart a successful course into the future when we so readily corrupt the lessons of our past?
This does not mean that we should idealize either our leaders or our past. Indeed, the Torah itself tells us that Moses was not without imperfection, that he erred in his assumptions about his brother, in his reluctance to shoulder the mantle of leadership, and in his impatience with the recalcitrant Jewish people. But this does not grant us free license to attack Moses without source or substance. Any rabbi who can find no way of teaching moral lessons than through the gratuitous slander of Judaism's most noble leader has truly lost his way.
Even more ironic was the reaction of the broader community, as I was verbally tarred-and-feathered for the sharpness of my rebuttal. The president of our local Jewish Federation circulated a letter in which he wrote:
Personally, I was quite distressed by aspects of Rabbi Goldson's commentary. I found his references to [the rabbi] demeaning, cynical and unnecessary. I believe we can and should express our deeply held and strong opinions and beliefs with respect and civility.
In an open letter, I asked the president why he was not equally distressed by the profound disrespect heaped by my colleague upon the founding leader of the Jewish nation. Why did you not find it appropriate, Mr. President, to denounce the character assassination of Moses, but felt obliged to condemn me for calling out the rabbi who so deeply offended the Torah observant community with his irresponsible distortion of Jewish tradition? How do you justify demanding respect for one who has spoken so contemptuously against the heritage you yourself represent?
I have yet to receive an explanation.
CONTROLLING THE FUTURE
The insightful words of George Santayana have become well known to all: Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. But did Santayana anticipate the day when zealots from every corner would manipulate the records of history in order to gain credibility for their respective positions? And when we cease to become defenders of the historical record in our frantic desire to preserve political correctness, can the fulfillment of Orwell's prophecy be far away?
If we have ultimately lost our respect for the past and for historical integrity, then it is no longer Santayana who will have written the epitaph of civil society, it is Friedrich Hegel:
What experience and history teach us is this - that people and governments never have learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from it.
Let us hope that it is not too late for us to learn.
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Comment by clicking here. JWR contributor Rabbi Yonason Goldson teaches at Block Yeshiva High School in St. Louis, MO, where he also writes and lectures. He is author of Dawn to Destiny: Exploring Jewish History and its Hidden Wisdom, an overview of Jewish philosophy and history from Creation through the compilation of the Talmud, now available from Judaica Press. Visit him at http://torahideals.wordpress.com .
© 2010, Rabbi Yonason Goldson
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