Tocqueville the Prophet

In 1831, Alexis De Tocqueville visited the United States of America in order to assess the prison system here. During the nine months spent traveling through the US, Tocqueville took note of more than our prisons; he examined the strengths and weaknesses of America. Tocqueville’s Democracy in America, first published in 1833, is a celebrated and prominent work that sets in print the conclusions Tocqueville drew during his time in the US. Fundamentally, Tocqueville’s conclusion was that the US was a successful democracy unparalleled by its European associates.

Even prior to the Civil Rights Movement and the many judicial and legislative statues of the 1900’s that ushered in equality and social welfare, the US was a great nation. Unlike European countries, the United States was built on a foundation of religion for the purpose of building a life better for our children than we, ourselves, had. Moreover, Tocqueville noted the US was blessed with leaders who cared more about their constituents than their party.

In the same breath that he praised the US for its many unique strengths, Tocqueville also spoke forebodingly of the characteristics that could ruin the US, including an excessive love for equality. This seemingly honorable trait could, according to Tocqueville, drive men and women away from the unity and purpose at the core of the country. Instead, people would become increasingly materialistic and concerned with “self.” As equality increases, people begin to believe that they deserve the same wealth as everyone else in their society, despite difference in work ethic and training. Ultimately, the pursuit of self-interested agendas, such as wealth, comes at the cost of liberty.

And look where we are today. The prophetic accuracy of Tocqueville’s warning is frightening. We are a nation in debt; a lazy nation; a nation that criticizes the fundamentals of our society that we once venerated. “In God we trust,” “One nation, under God,” “God who gave us life gave us liberty.” These phrases should inspire people. These phrases are at the root of what makes this country great. We are all equal under God. Without God, under what measure are we equal? Based on society’s current value system, God has been replaced by a measure of wealth. The economy crumbled partially as the result of over spending in our pursuit of equal wealth. Exchanging God for money is not paying off.

Not only has our economy depressed as a result of our new focus, but also our entire value system has been transformed. Latest statistics released by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention show that 40% of infants born in the United States were born to unwed mothers. As a society were are no longer dedicated to creating a complete family unit consisting of two parents (irregardless of gender or race). Are we putting our children first? We are not ensuring that our students succeed in school, as our performance rates continue to plummet. And what have we done to improve the health of our youth? Obesity is become an increasingly pervasive problem among our students.

We are also no longer a religious country. According to the American Religions Identification Survey, the number of Americans identifying as Christian has dropped by 10% since 1990, and 15% of Americans give no thought to religious identity, whatsoever.

The irony of our current state is that as our quality of life improved, we have become increasingly apathetic and content to be dependent on the government. The government makes too many decisions on our behalf, and the leaders do so with little regard for the best interest of their constituents. Our representatives and government leaders represent the political parties, corporations and interest groups that support them. As a result, the government is influencing free market banking, pursuing universal health care, and creating far too many overly indulgent social welfare programs. In short the government is controlling our destiny.

We Americans have confused liberty with equality, and in doing so, we have surrendered our power to the government. With increased control, the government will make us the same. Government institutions will be our equalizers. But the American way has never before been about equal, as in the same. America has always stood for the right to the same opportunities. We are all free to pursue the same ends; we are not all the same. I want the liberty to be responsible for my own failures and successes. I want the liberty to make my own way- to work for what I want and to earn what I have.

In this vein, I want a political party and a set of leaders capable of inspiring the nation to be better than we are today. To turn back time and get in touch with the unique characteristics that made the US the envy of the world.

We are a country built on the sweat of immigrants, the brilliance of our founders, and the courage of a proud people unafraid to work and daring enough to be better than the rest of the world. Let us not forget from where our power stems, and may we be brave enough today to reclaim our collective heritage and as one people take back the right to control our own destiny.

Chiaroscuro and the Bible

I heard a fabulous sermon at services last month, delivered by Rabbi Adir Posey. Rabbi Posey posed the following dilemma: as part of our Jewish heritage, we are told to be happiest, not during the month of our exodus from Egypt, not on the days designed for the coronation of God, but rather during the (Jewish) month of Adar. How is it that we are supposed to be happiest on a month during which so many afflictions and attacks have tormented the Jewish people? Just last year, the Yeshiva Merkaz HaRav was attacked during Adar, leaving five students and three teachers dead. In 1996, 13 were murdered when a suicide bomber detonated a bomb outside of the Dizingoff Center. In Adar, 2002, the bombing of a Jerusalem café left 11 people dead and 54 wounded; in Adar, 2003, another 17 people were murdered and 53 were injured as a result of a suicide bombing of a bus in Haifa. Just today, a terrorist rammed a construction vehicle into a police car and bus, injuring two police officers. How can we be happiest at a time when we have experienced so many horrors and have had so many reasons to grieve?

To resolve this dilemma, Posey, in typical Jewish fashion, asked another question: what was the catalyst for Jethro’s choosing to leave his position of esteem in the pagan world to join the wandering Israelites in the desert? Jethro did not ally himself with the Israelites following the miracles of the Exodus nor following the phenomenon of the splitting of the Red Sea. In fact, Jethro joined the Israelites only after their battle with Amalek. The Amalek militants attacked the Israelite women, children and elderly, and for the first time since their miraculous exodus from Egypt, the Israelites were seen as being vulnerable. In spite of their weakened image and great losses, following the battle with Amalek, the Israelites continued their journey to Mt. Sinai to receive the Torah. Posey argued that Jethro was inspired by the commitment of the Israelites to their religious destiny even when armies stronger than their threatened their survival.

Following the miracles of the Exodus story, the Israelites were in a state of complete invincibility. Much like a Monet, the entire future of the Israelites was bright, colorful, and easy to appreciate. In contrast, Posey compared the state of the Israelites after the attack of the Amalek people to a Rembrandt. The master of chiaroscuro, Rembrandt’s paintings were often dark, practically nocturnal. Inset into these dark paintings would be a single candle used to illuminate the entire scene. Even when facing the dangers of Amalek, the Israelites’ commitment to their objectives allowed them to continue pursuing their goals. Their flicker of hope and dedication lit their way and inspired Jethro to join them.

The contrast between light and dark is a theme carried out in all traditions. Literary analysis is replete with the juxtaposition of light and dark imagery. Even Disney films employ this technique to add to their films. Disney antagonists, such as Ursula, Snow White’s stepmother and Jafar, were all dressed in black. Conversely, the protagonists in Disney’s films were always dressed in light and bright colors. Like Disney films, the chiaroscuro technique in art enables the audience to appreciate the light because it is unique in its dark surroundings. Unlike a Monet where colors and brushstrokes are remembers, those who view a Rembrandt remember the light.

In the Jewish month of Adar, the Jewish people celebrate a single day of salvation on the holiday of Purim. On that day, the Jewish people were saved from immanent death and annihilation. Their salvation was not complete. But that single day, surrounded by many days of worry and suffering was all the more remarkable and worthy of celebration.

Today, with the constant threats of a crumbling economy and a strengthening military foe in Iran, it is important to look at the entire picture and recognize that we are living in a period of chiaroscuro. Surrounded by many troubling conditions, there are fragments of light. It is crucial that we recognize these rays of hope, possibility, and goodness in spite of the overall bleakness of today. These precious features will be what allows this period in time to be remembered not as the period of darkness, but as a period remembered for the glimmer of light.

Dragons and Rainbows

Historians write that during medieval times, people looked at the world as though it had messages for them. Clinging to myths and legends, people faced the feared darkness of a confounding world, hoping that these myths and stories would shine a glimmer of light in the dark abyss of their world. Myths enabled people with a finite understanding of the world to find both a semblance of reason in a confusing world and sense of purpose. In fact, looking to find reason and purpose drew people to the idea of transcendence, most commonly referred to as spirituality and religion.

Joseph Campbell, renowned scholar and lecturer on mythology, explained that the quest for transcendence was the impetus for the creation of the dragon. According to Campbell, the dragon is the amalgamation of an eagle and serpent. Similar to the Chinese image of Tao, a yang and yin relationship of opposites fusing together to form a complete whole, the dragon is the synthesis of a boundless eagle, always soaring in the spiritual heights, and the serpent, always grounded and bound to the earth. The dragon is a serpent with wings; an earthly being that has transcended the confines of its carnal and temporal state. The dragon is revered because it is a metaphorical representation of the spiritual potentiality of humanity.

While not nearly as popular in mythology and poetry as dragons, the rainbow is an equally transcendent image. Like Campbell, scholar and Kabbalist, Rabbi Abraham Kook, believed in the metaphoric power of images. He wrote about the rainbow, first used as a symbol for God’s covenant with man in the Old Testament following the flood that destroyed the entire world. “I will make My covenant with you, and all flesh will never again be cut off by the waters of a flood. This the sign of the covenant that I am placing between Me, you, and ever living creature....I have set My rainbow in the clouds…The rainbow will be in the clouds, and I will see it to recall the eternal covenant” (Gen. 9:11-16). To Rabbi Kook, the rainbow in the Old Testament is a metaphor for the awareness of God. In response to mankind’s failed connection with spirituality and devoutness, God infused the world with His ethical guidance; the refraction of light in the rainbow representing the refraction of God’s light in the physical world. In his writing, Kook continues to explain that just as the light of the rainbow could be seen in the clouds, the light of the Divine could be seen in the material and corporal world.

William Wordsworth, in his poem “The Rainbow” also employs the rainbow as a metaphor for transcendence. “My heart leaps when I behold a rainbow in the sky: so was it when my life began…I could wish my days to be bound each to each by natural piety.” Wordsworth expresses that we are brought into this world with a reverence for God. When seeing a rainbow, that piety is rekindled. Wordsworth’s hope for himself and mankind is that each day should be infused with this same state of veneration.

Whether inclined to believe in God or a more Kantian transcendence of something beyond the earthly, the lesson of both dragons and rainbows is that humanity needs to strive toward a higher integrity. By attempting to infuse our lives with righteousness, we will be able to give our lives purpose in spite of circumstance-- meaning and worth in spite of situation.

May we be blessed to see many rainbows through the clouds, guiding our transcendental journey toward meaning.