The “Hate Speech” We Need to Stop for Elections |
Do you remember how, for the first months of the war, anyone who raised the idea that, given the worst failure in Israeli history, we should go to elections was met with the response: “Elections? During a war?? Do you want people fighting over politics in the tank? Elections increase hatred and division too much for them to happen during war.”
Of course, there were some who warned that if that is the case, we may just find ourselves in a forever war. Almost three years later, still mired in wars on multiple fronts, it might be a good time for anyone who mocked and scoffed at those people to apologize. But even more critically, as we find ourselves finally, unbelievably, weeks before this government successfully completes its mandated tenure, we need to reassess the assumptions that lead to the conclusion that elections = hatred.
There are two causal errors at work here, on either side of the word “hatred.” The first is to think that disputes cause hatred, and the second is to think that hatred causes dispute. The first mistake is less serious, but extremely hard to fix. The second error is much more damaging, but luckily, it’s also much easier to handle. Of course, the best time to talk about this is during Parashat Korach. Jewish tradition has much to offer to help us deal with the first error, but actually, it can trip us up when it comes to the second one, so we need to tread........