May 16, 2024|ח' אייר ה' אלפים תשפ"ד Stay Humble or Be Humbled
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Of the many lessons we have been taught over the last seven months, one critical one is humility. I will leave for those in Israel to explore at a later date how the horrific and unexpected events of October 7 should humble elected leaders, the military and intelligence establishments, and all of us. Instead, I want to focus on how these last months in America have humbled me.
Earlier this year, the great behavioral economist, best-selling author Daniel Kahneman, passed away. He taught at Princeton, UC Berkeley and the University of British Columbia, and in 2002, he won a Nobel Prize in Economics. He was the nephew of Ponevezh Rosh Yeshiva Rav Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman and was considered one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century.
Kahneman once said: “We’re blind to our blindness. We have very little idea of how little we know. We’re not designed to know how little we know.” Indeed, when asked what he would eliminate in the world if he had a magic wand, Kahneman answered with one word: overconfidence.
It is instructive that one of the brightest minds of our time thought overconfidence was even more dangerous than ignorance. Indeed, overconfidence is to blame for the sinking of the Titanic, the nuclear accident at Chernobyl, the loss of Space Shuttles Challenger and Columbia, the subprime mortgage crisis of 2008, the Great Recession that followed, and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, among countless other things. Overconfidence has brought personal financial disaster, imploded relationships, and ruined lives.
Overconfidence comes from hubris, from a feeling of arrogance that we see the whole picture, know all the relevant facts, can draw the proper conclusions, and have a monopoly on the truth. One would think the recent pandemic that brought us to our knees would have softened our confidence, tempered the strength of our views, made us admit the limits of our knowledge and understanding.
And yet, when it comes to politics (and other areas of life), we have remained as convinced, as confident, and strident as ever. We know exactly whom we are aligned with, whom we should support and vote for, which party is the future of Israel and will always stand up for the Jews. Many speak in absolutes, with generalizations and overconfidence about politicians, parties, and the political landscape.
And yet, not surprisingly, they were wrong again. Reading, watching and following who has stood with us and who hasn’t over these last seven months should humble us, cause us to reconsider entrenched positions, and to be more open, interested, curious, and persuadable going forward.
On October 6, we thought we understood the political landscape, which party was exclusively the future of the US-Israel relationship, and who would stand with the Jewish people if they were under attack. For example, many were cynical at best about Senator John Fetterman, with criticisms of his progressive policy ideas, his bizarre and inappropriate wardrobe, and even his physical and mental fitness to serve while recovering from a stroke. Little did we know or appreciate that he would emerge as one of the most passionate, eloquent, and outspoken advocates for Israel and of the Jewish community, that he would courageously confront our enemies and haters without backing down or cowering for a moment. We could not have predicted he would speak up and speak out against his own party and even the president when it came to defending Israel. On October 6, I think only a tiny minority of members of our greater community would have contributed to Fetterman’s campaign. Today, I don’t know a shul that wouldn’t embrace the opportunity to honor him at their dinner.
Previously, we may have thought a congressman who describes himself as a liberal progressive may not be aligned with us, our values, or interests. But we would be terribly mistaken to reduce him to those labels or components of who he is or what he believes in. Most important for us, Rep. Ritchie Torres has paid a heavy price for being among our greatest friends in Congress, standing up, posting, advocating and passing legislation for Israel and to protect the Jewish community when it isn’t easy or popular in segments of his party or his base.
When our new congressman, Rep. Jared Moskowitz, was campaigning and ultimately elected, were we only distracted by policies or positions we disagreed about, or did we bother to focus on the fact that on what matters most to us, he would become a true champion of our cause, a relentless fighter of our people?
Last week we interviewed an extraordinary young man named Shabbos Kestenbaum on Behind the Bima. He has been on the front lines of defending the Jewish people at Harvard, including contending with a death threat from a faculty member of the university that resulted in a need for private security and the filing of a lawsuit against what was long considered the most prestigious university in the country, maybe the world. Shabbos (yes that is his name) is a student of Chassidus, loves the Kotzker Rebbe, considers Rav Aharon Leib Steinman one of his heroes, and has defiantly remained not only fully and publicly observant on a campus filled with hate and genuine threats, he has emerged a heroic spokesperson of our people, testifying before Congress proudly wearing his yarmulka and clinging to Torah.
But if terrorist sympathizers and supporters hadn’t essentially taken over Harvard, would we ever come to know that about Shabbos, would we have learned about what we have in common and how much admire him, or would we have remained focused on other passions of his, like his rallying for progressive causes and policies?
There are many more examples in every direction, but the bottom line is that we must not be overconfident or arrogant in assuming we can reduce people to their political party or one component of who they are. Doing so not only deprives us of friendships and relationships we can gain from but alienates those who could and would be our friends.
There are many issues, policies, and positions we care about but they are not all equal and we must not get confused about how we prioritize them and which matter most. If we didn’t know it already, the last seven months have taught us that for us, the top three issues that should influence or vote and political giving are Israel, antisemitism and Israel. This does not mean being overconfident, or screaming from the rooftops that we are certain the person we are voting for is going to be the best candidate for any issue, including Israel. It does mean, however, that we have the responsibility to make the best decision with what we know at any given moment, with the humility and understanding that we may be wrong.
There are many others who can focus on the other issues, but as of 2023, we are only 0.2% of the 8 billion worldwide population and by some estimates 2.2% of the population in the United States. Nobody is going to fight for, prioritize, and care about Israel and antisemtisim like we do. Does that mean we may find ourselves contributing to and voting for people whose other policies, or whose character is alien to us or repulsive? Or that we may find ourselves voting for someone in a party we feel no affinity for but believe the person on the ballot will be loyal to our interests?
It might, but when you are in a burning building and the fireman comes to save you or you are being chased by an armed madman and a policeman comes to save you, you don’t have the luxury of making sure you are in alignment in your beliefs and lifestyle, or you approve of their character and behavior. You embrace their sacrifice and efforts towards your safety and security with gratitude and appreciation. Maybe in a perfect world you’d prefer another policeman or fireman to intervene who better aligns with your values and general worldview, but in a crisis, you don’t get that choice, and we are in a state of perpetual crisis.
There are many lessons that we have learned, and still are learning, from this painful and difficult period for our people. Let one of them be humility. Let’s never be overconfident, let’s not put our faith in ourselves or overly in anyone else. It was just this past week’s Pirkei Avos in which Rabban Gamliel cautions us to be careful with and not put too much faith in government. Let’s remember that Hashem is in control and in charge, and that as our rabbis say, harbei sheluchum la’makom, Hashem has many agents and emissaries He can act through. Let’s do our best to identify them not by the party they belong to or the ways they are different than us, but by us prioritizing what matters most and making sure we share that in common.