Maybe some day we'll come together

I had a conversation with my daughter's Hebrew School teacher today about a youtube video showing Israeli children in Sderot hiding from Hamas rockets that she had the children watch. I made the point that, while I don't have a problem with my daughter watching the video, I was concerned about the one-sided perspective that they were being given - not just by her, but within the wider discussion of the military action in Gaza within our congregation (and the fear that by even bringing this up, I would be viewed as in some way anti-Israel). We had a good conversation, but it's a difficult issue to deal with within our community.

Completely by chance tonight (really), I was flipping through Rabbi Joseph Telushkin's The Book of Jewish Values: A Day-by-Day Guide to Ethical Living - my wife got it as a Hanukkah present - and opened to the entry for Day 131: "Read and Listen to Points of View with Which You Disagree."

Telushkin discusses the Talmudic story of how the Hillel School was favored over the Shammai School, which had differing views on how Jewish law should be applied. According to the story, a voice from heaven decreed that, while both were teaching the word of God, the Hillel School had the correct interpretation of the law. The reason? Because Hillel's followers studied both sides of the arguments (including Shammai's views), they were more "kindly and humble" and understood the issues in greater intellectual depth.

I could say more, but the rest is commentary.

UPDATE: OK, so here's that commentary, and why this message is important. I don't want my children to grow up to think like Joe. The Talkback comments at the end of the JPost story are particularly freightening - posters clearly have not taken Telushkin's teaching to heart.