Q&A: Again, Various Topics
Again, Various Topics
Question
Hello Rabbi Michi!
How are you on such a gloomy day?
I didn’t expect to ask political questions, but here we are!
1. You said in one of your columns that a left-wing religious person is an oxymoron. Beyond that, I tried to think and understand why, and since when the right became very religious (and in general, what does that say about people on the believing left?)
2. What is your position on the settlement enterprise? Is Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria necessary? Partial annexation of Area C?
3. I have a good friend and we study in a mixed study hall on various subjects (Talmud, Bible, a little Hasidism and philosophy—Guide for the Perplexed, Kuzari, and contemporary thinkers). I’m afraid I’ll influence her in a bad way. How can I open her up to an open and critical discussion so that she forms an opinion of her own? I try to expose her to all the possible arguments on a given topic so that she can form her own view, because that’s what matters most to me. Is there room for improvement here? Could I act differently?
4. When will Episode 19 of Dogmatics go up on YouTube? I’m waiting for it.
Answer
On a gloomy day I’m usually about the same as I am on a non-gloomy day. Thanks.
- As far as I remember, I didn’t say that in any column. It is true that there is a correlation between religiosity and right-wing views. I explained this at length in Two Wagons. Briefly, the left can appear in two forms: negative leftism (in the absence of criteria, everyone is equally right and equally worthy), and positive leftism (I have a positive position that everyone is equal). The first position is present in high dosage on the left, and it certainly correlates with secularism. In order to adopt objective criteria of good and bad, you need to believe in a source that gives them validity (see Column 456).
- I don’t have a defined position. I tend to think that we need to formulate a position about what we want and act accordingly, not wait for agreements. That isn’t happening at the moment, and so we constantly just give in to pressures from within and from outside.
- I didn’t understand the question.\
- It’s up. The lessons usually go up that same day or at the latest the day after.