Jacob is tricked by ten of his sons, who present him with
their brother’s torn coat as evidence of his demise. Brother Joseph, you may recall, was sold into
slavery by those sons; his precious coat ripped and dipped in goat’s blood to
cover up their villainy. Jacob wails in
grief: “My son’s coat! A wild animal has
devoured him! Joseph has been ripped to
shreds!” (Genesis 37:33). Like Othello
before him, Jacob is presented with “ocular proof” which actually proves
nothing. The boy is alive.
All around us, “news” sources present propaganda as truth, shaping
opinion in a populace that hasn’t been trained to distinguish fact from
opinion, ask probing questions, identify specious reasoning, consider the
source, confirm the story, or change its mind.
As a result, we’ve become shallow, uninformed, and susceptible. Big corporations and politicians count on our
gullibility to enact their own agendas.In my small way, I try push back against this. In Temple Emanuel’s Confirmation Class (10th and 11th Grades), we read primary texts and ask questions. We define words. We seek to empathize. We allow disagreement. I encourage younger kids to ask smart questions and refine their vocabulary. I ask them to consider other angles. All of this should make it harder for someone to pull the wool over their eyes someday.
In our worship and our study, we don’t require agreement but
in fact relish a range of interpretation.
There is no required statement of faith, nor abdication of mind.
Synagogue can be an antidote to the pervasive dumbing down
of our culture.
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