Finding Balance In (and Out of) My Bubble

We all know the so-called ancient saying, “May you live in interesting times.” Suffice it to say, we are living in interesting times. Depending on your perspective (political and otherwise) your definition of “interesting” likely varies from that of others around you. I suspect few find it boring.

We are just over a month into our nation’s new Administration in Washington, DC. Nary a day goes by when I do not find myself engaged in discussions about the various political winds blowing across our nation. Of course, if we each listen and engage only within our own place on the spectrum, we are likely either energized or enraged based on that spot and bubble. For my part, it has long been my practice to browse websites and news sources that reflect positions and principles other than my own. I need to be forced to stretch beyond my own perspective. Simply reinforcing what I already think (or believe) may be comforting, but it’s not living in the real world with its rough-and-tumble discourse.

For several years now I have been studying, teaching and practicing Mussar, which I like to define as “The Jewish Road to Character” (h/t David Brooks and Alan Morinis).  Mussar is a part of our Jewish tradition which has been around for a lot longer than most of us realize.  It is a set of teachings based on what are known as middot (soul traits). Mussar tradition teaches that along with our physical characteristics, we are each of us, imbued with “soul traits.”  The more-or-less classic list of these middot includes such items as:

There are other lists, and indeed, studying, reflecting and practicing living out these values/soul traits is a humbling and eye-opening experience.

Over the past couple of years, as my own exploration of Mussar deepened, through study with a cherished rabbinic friend on a weekly basis, and through various offerings of The Mussar Institute I have found that these teachings have every day practical application.  And this application is not simply a matter of my own interpersonal and intrapersonal experiences.  The middot always seem to speak to some aspect of what is swirling in the world around me in these noisy, chaotic, conflict-ridden times. 

 

For well over a year, my study partner and I have been reading and studying from Orchot Tzaddikim (“The Ways of the Righteous”), a Mussar text from the 15^th century. Its authorship is unknown.  For our part, owing to the various writing and interpretative styles we encounter in the different chapters of the book, we are convinced that Orchot Tzaddikim is an anthology of writings from different teachers.

As enlightening as it is to read and discuss the teachings from Orchot Tzaddkim, and broaden our base of Jewish knowledge as the text cites teachings from across the bookshelf of Rabbinic literature, it is equally eye-opening as we apply whatever we are studying to the evens of the day or the week gone by.  For a 15^th century text to speak to our 21^st century quandaries and questions makes our engagement in this endeavor even more meaningful.  It’s also a tangible reminder that for all that changes as human history marches forward, human nature is startling consistent through the ages.

As we settle in each week in a public room at the Watertown Library, we step out of our busy rabbinic and familial lives. As we do, we enter a worldview vastly different from the echo chambers of our day.  Nevertheless, not a week goes by where real life fails to enter our study and discussion.  The time we spend, the texts we learn, and the insights we acquire by engaging in this regular study and practice helps me find a measure of balance in an otherwise disorienting and challenging time.

Curious? Pick up Alan Morinis’ wonderful introduction Everyday Holiness, or check out your local synagogue.  An increasing number of communities are offering on-ramps to the world of Mussar.  

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The Whole Truth and Nothing But . . . Oops

It has been an eventful first few weeks for our nation, our new President, his Administration, and by extension, our world. In a weird way, one has to give the President credit for holding true to many of the promises he made during the long and disturbing campaign. He said he would break the political mold. And he has. We are accustomed to politicians who campaign one one set of promises only to govern differently upon taking office.

It almost makes me want to say, we should take the President at his word.  But outside of these past weeks of rapid-fire Executive Orders, built on what seemed at the time as outlandish and impossible realities, there is precious little reason to trust virtually anything this new President says.  And that’s not based on just a handful of weeks, or even an overly disturbing Presidential Campaign season. In this President’s case, while he may have a very thin political resume, his business and entertainment resume stretch back decades.  This is a man who, in a best-selling book entitled The Art of the Deal proudly proclaims that to be successful one must “deal” in “truthful hyperbole.”  In other words, words themselves do not matter.  It is the true creativity and forcefulness with which one makes his or her assertions, while holding fast to one’s “beliefs” that paves the way to success.  In only the first days of this new Administration that “principle” (if one can call that a principle) was turned into “alternative facts.”

Day by day we watch this concept unfold as a guiding strategy of the Administration.  As each day’s new Executive Orders, and other maneuvers are pronounced, we watch the President’s associates proclaim war on the truth, the media, and in short, anyone who dares question their portrayal of reality.

Having just spent a bit over a week in Austria and Hungary, where totalitarian regimes held sway in the not-too-distant past, I found myself watching and listening from Central Europe with incredulity. Rather than watching the early days of a new Presidency and trying to find a way, as I have numerous other times in my adult life, to grow to respect a leader for whom I did not cast my vote, I find myself in shock. Each day I tuned in from afar to learn of the latest outrage.

Much has been said and written about the President’s strained relationship with the truth. Each day, one or more of his close associates and advisors steps in front of the cameras to lambast all who dare question his policies and directives.

But this President’s history – both in business, and more recently on the campaign trail, should strike deep concern in the hearts and minds of us all and not only of those of us who did not support him on Election Day.  We went to our polling places to elect a new Commander-In-Chief. And indeed we did.  But more pointedly, and with each passing day, of greater concern must be the fact that we have elected a Liar-in-Chief, who if nothing else has a long track record of making false statements, manufacturing “facts,” and of outright dishonesty.  He may not have a lengthy political track record yet, but look at the lengthy record of business dealings in which students at Trump University, and contractors working at his various projects and properties who have been cheated. His dealings so often end up in court, and are often settled out-of-court so he can move on to his next dishonest scheme. (And indeed, just last night we received word of a court ruling on one of his early Executive Orders regarding immigration and refugees.) Listen to the President’s outrageous claims about millions attending his Inauguration, or the millions who illegally voted on Election Day. Virtually all evidence points to the contrary on nearly every account.

We are barely three weeks into this new era. Many Americans, and many around the world with us, are aghast at what is unfolding before our eyes.  The President claims to be making Americans safer.  Who will keep us safe from his lies and despotic maneuvering?  The answer must come from the first words of that sacred document he promised to uphold on January 20^th.

“We, the People” must stand up to the falsehoods,. We must stand up as well to those who not only stand by and compound his lies, but who are rewriting our identity as a nation, day-by-day, Executive Action by action, one falsehood-filled speech after another.   US is the United States of America, and is US – “We, the People.” “We, the People” must call one another, and the rest of our elected officials to account, and we need to act quickly. They represent US.

Leaving On a Jet Plane (or Not)

[I wrote these words en route from Zurich to Boston a bit over a week ago, but have only gotten to share them now.]

It happens almost every time I board a plane to return home from a trip, be it work-related or leisure.  Each time, from somewhere in the recesses of my mind I hear Peter, Paul & Mary singing John Denver's famed "Leaving on a Jet Plane."  It has been almost 50 years since I first head the song.

Holocaust Memorial - Vienna

Now my wife Laura and I are on a plane, from Zurich to Boston.  Zurich was but the transfer point after our flight from Budapest, Hungary as we closed out an 8-day visit to Vienna and Budapest as part of a Rabbinic Mission to `these two Central European cities.  It was a first visit to both cities for us. The trip, about which I will write at a later point, was eye-opening, informative, and in some ways, inspiring.

Shoes on the Danube Memorial to Murdered Jews

We left the US just two days after the inauguration of our new President.  We’ve watched the early days of this Administration from afar. I found myself reaching for news almost at any pause in our itinerary. Visiting two Central European cities which have dark pasts in Jewish history, learning about that history and how Austria and Hungary deal with their stained past, while watching this new Administration unfold its policies has been shocking.  Learning about totalitarian regimes and their heinous crimes against our Jewish people and others was, at times overwhelming. It brought back memories of my abbreviated visit to Berlin in August. Following the news as the President and his advisors rolled out one Executive order after another, each the fulfillment of a campaign promise, has been disturbing.  None of the actions has been more troubling than the January 27 Executive Order regarding refugees and immigration. 

Learning about the fate of Jewish citizens, immigrants and refugees in Hungary while watching the drama unfold in my own country has been bone-chilling.  Watching the news of the widespread protests was inspiring. It made me sad to be so far away at a time when it is necessary to stand up for our nation's values and character. (I take some comfort in having been able to participate in the Women's March in Boston the day before our departure.)

However, nothing brought home the new reality to which I am returning home than the scene Laura and I witnessed as we boarded our flight in Zurich.  A young girl, likely in her mid-20's was standing at the counter. She was trying to explain to the Swiss Air attendants that she had a proper student visa, permitting her to fly to Boston to start classes at Harvard for her Master's degree.  Another passenger stood by her side.  Clearly a stranger, and possibly an attorney, she was advising the flight attendants that the ban had been stayed by a court in Boston. The student, she argued, must legally be allowed to board the plane.

We were ushered along by the flight attendants. Just moments later, as we took our seats we saw the attorney, tears streaming down her face, coming down the aisle. "They denied her boarding?!?" we asked.  "Yes," she replied.  I thanked her for trying to help the young student whose fate at that counter. Right before our eyes we were brought face-to-face with the new reality to which we are flying home in an all-too-disturbing manner.

While I can feel good about our homecoming after a worthwhile mission with a group of colleagues and spouses, Peter, Paul & Mary's echo in my mind is discomforting on this flight. Too many are being denied the ability to leave on a jet plane opting to the narrow-minded, cold-hearted and brutal machinations of a disorganized and tyrannical President and his henchman. (Now, just over a week later the order has been stayed and our nation awaits a court ruling.)

Our plane departed only a short while ago, but my homecoming feels blemished.  Sure, I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed and awakening my own home.  I am eager to see my children, and in only a few weeks, God-willing, to the arrival of our first grandchild. There is much to look forward to.  But the scene at the Zurich airport, but an hour ago, tempers my warm feelings. In fact, it underscores the disturbing news reports and images I’ve been watching from afar. My hopes are relatively intact.  My faith in my country is shaken.  May the jetlag be short-lived.  There is too much work to be done before too many of our country’s values and too much of its character are undone by a cold-hearted, dishonest bully, and his close circle of advisors whose reckless management of our nation over but a week-and-a-half has wrecked havoc not only across our nation, but around the globe.