Agreeing to Disagree

t will be helpful to frame the discussion of the war in Iraq with the question: "Why do people disagree?" Moving the discussion from a dialogue about disagreement in general to why people disagree about the need to fight a war in Iraq will help move the conversation from one of dispute to one of respectful dialogue.

The goals of such discussion are a realization of the following:

Enduring Understandings

• Disagreement and debate are central to Judaism.
• Disagreement within the Jewish community does not need to lead to division.

Essential Questions

• How can we balance individual responsibility and trust in authority?
• Where might Jews look for guidance in difficult times?
• How can we negotiate the tension between unity and debate or disagreement?

Pertinent Texts
Well-meaning people of all ages disagree on almost every conceivable issue. Therefore, it becomes important to learn how to negotiate and participate in a culture of diverse and even divergent opinions. Jews have millennia of experience disagreeing.

1. Abraham disagreed with God (Genesis 18:16-33).
2. Immediately after Moses killed an Egyptian taskmaster who was oppressing a slave, Moses intervened in a dispute between two Hebrews, who turned to Moses and said, "Who made you chief and ruler over us?" (Exodus 2:14) Moses spent the rest of his life trying to unite the people of Israel around service to God, and we continue to walk in Moses' footsteps, searching for the path of peace within our people and between people.
3. One timely lesson regarding the movement from dispute to dialogue comes from the Babylonian Talmud - Eruvin 13b. Two schools of rabbinic thought, one associated with Hillel and the other with Shammai, disagreed consistently about matters of Jewish practice. Almost always, Hillel gained the upper hand. In an attempt to break this pattern of conflict, the Rabbis proposed a context for mutual respect, "These and those are both words of the living God," in reference to Hillel and Shammai. They could offer different opinions and both could be seen as worthy.

For more in-depth texts to help teach Jewish perspectives on war, download Reacting to a World at War*, a compilation of Jewish texts that recognize the tension between the love of peace and the need to use force at times in order for good to triumph over evil.

*Please note this is in PDF file format, in order to view you must have Acrobat Reader. To download Acrobat Reader for free, please click here.

Read Reflections on the Present Time by Rabbi Peter J. Rubinstein; which discusses our current world situation in regard to the two standards the bible uses to determine whether a nation is justified in going to war and whether that nation might be victorious.

We must make sure to teach our children that disagreement and debate are important parts of making ethical decisions. To learn how to teach children about this conflict, click here.