Ep. 175: How to Restore Civil Discourse – A Talmudic Guide

Think Twice with Jonathan Tobin

In the Internet era and politically bifurcated societies, is constructive disagreement, a concept that is at the heart of traditional Talmud study, even possible anymore? JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin admits that he’s skeptical about whether political discourse can be anything other than a zero-sum game in the current atmosphere. Tobin is joined on this week’s episode by one person who believes that it doesn’t have to be that way. Daniel Taub, a mediator, writer and former Israeli diplomat is the author of the new book, Beyond Dispute: Rediscovering the Jewish Art of Constructive Disagreement. According to Taub, the tools to bring us closer together can be found in those that are part of the Jewish tradition. What’s more, he points out that the methods that are used in Talmud study arose out of a period of even worse Jewish disunity, during the last years of the Temple era 2,000 years ago and the period that followed its destruction.