SINAT HIMAM AND TALKING POLITICS

Right now, the Jewish people are in a certain time of year known as bein hametzarim, “Between the Straits” or “in the narrows.” It is a three week period that began with the minor fast of Shivah Asar b’Tammuz, commemorating the breaching of the walls of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 BCE, and ends with the major fast of Tishah B’av, commemorating the destruction of the two Temples, the first by the Babylonians and the second, later by the Romans. The Gemara in Yoma 9b states that the Temple was destroyed because of sinat hinam, senseless hatred. I often think of that phrase as redundant because so much hatred is senseless. Hatred moves us to say and do stupid things. And when an entire population crescendos in the number of stupid statements uttered or acts committed, some revered structure, a Temple is bound to be burnt to the ground.

Sinat hinam is never more prevalent than when people talk politics. It is as if politics were a license for one or more parties to become uncivil, if not downright brutal. The shame is that argument is healthy and essential to a democracy, but when people are either intimidated to speak freely or humiliated for having spoken, debate fails to do what it is intended to do—clarify our thinking on issues that matter to us most. So, in the interest of identifying sinat hinam among us and thereby rooting it out of our own political exchanges, I offer the following three tips—

1.   Remain calm and relatively objective. The idea in debate is to create light, not heat. Shouting, name calling, or profanities, prevents the issue at hand from being fully examined. Engaging in such crude tactics will dash the opportunity to further understand the point being debated. This leads to the second issue which is…

2.   Address the issue without attacking your debating partner. You need not tell the other person that his or her views are personally offensive or hurtful, because your debating partner is not what is being discussed. Moreover, you should never humiliate your debating partner by questioning his or her intelligence, or knowledge, or sincerity. These attacks are all irrelevant to the matter at hand. So stick to the issue. And finally…

3.   Remember that your fellow debater is not the enemy to be vanquished but a person whose view point you ought to, in the very least acknowledge. Be civil, polite, and respectful. Avoid sarcasm. Thank God you’ve got someone who will talk to you about so potentially divisive a topic as politics. But should you choose to point your verbal gun at your debating partner, you will bring the debate to a close summarily. Debate isn’t about killing each other; it’s about gaining clarity of thought. That requires civility throughout.

We should not fear political discussions. I wish we had them more often. Sadly, there are so many people who just don’t get it. Sinat hinam is of no use in any community unless, of course, you intend to destroy that community.