Written by Rabbi Leon Morris (President of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies) and Rabbi Zvi Hirschfield (Pardes Faculty) – Our ability to have civil conversations with the other side is deteriorating rapidly. The differences between the left and the right are an ever-widening gulf, and we are all deeply entrenched within communities that shield us from real engagement with or deep understanding of the other side. Indeed, it is no longer even clear to many of us when it is of value to engage with the other side, and when such engagement is in itself legitimating perspectives we view as abhorrent.
While clearly not everything is open to debate, the range of issues that are not open to debate is expanding rapidly, and the threats to ensuring a civil society that is truly diverse and pluralistic are significant. This is true in Israel where we both live, and even more so in America, from where we immigrated and from where our students come to study.