The extremists are talking too loudly, and everyone is convinced that only he is on the right side. It’s not just Jews against Arabs. It’s the Orthodox versus those who don’t think they can keep all six hundred and thirteen commandments of the Bible. It’s rich people versus poor people. At some point, something came over Israel so that everyone has his own ideas—and everyone else is an enemy. It’s a dialogue among deaf people and it is getting more and more serious.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the divisions within society and the dangers of extreme ideologies that lead people to view others as enemies.
This quote by Reuven Rivlin reflects on the polarizing nature of contemporary discussions, especially within conflicts like those in Israel. Rivlin points out that the extremists dominate the conversation, creating a perception that only their views are valid while others are marginalized. He illustrates the various conflicts at play, not just in a religious sense between Jews and Arabs, but also socially and economically, emphasizing that these divisions foster an environment where listening and understanding disappear, leading to a dialogue where opposing sides become increasingly deaf to one another's perspectives.
In practice
During a lecture on social justice, this quote can be used to illustrate the importance of listening to all perspectives.
The depth of this conflict, which is more than one hundred years old, requires us to find a way to communicate... so that the residents of the Middle East, Jews and Arabs alike, can live not as if they were forced to live together, but rather destined to live together.
We must remember that Islam is not an enemy, and we have no war with Islam.
For what Harley Street specialist has time to understand the body, let alone the mind or both in combination, when he is a slave to thirteen thousand a year?
Man inhabits a realm half in and half out of nature, his mind reaching forever beyond the tool, the uniformity, the law, into some realm which is that of the mind alone.
History has blessed us with all the freedom and advantages of multiculturalism. But it has also blessed us, because of the accident of our origins, with the linguistic unity that brings a critically needed cohesion to a nation as diverse, multiracial and multiethnic as America. Why gratuitously throw away that priceless asset? How mindless to call the desire to retain it 'racist.
Though builders may build, in the main they follow the plans of architects. Teachers teach, but they must have a text. Politicians govern, but only upon the flow of commentary that raises them up or casts them down.
The Dance - it is the rhythm of all that dies in order to live again; it is the eternal rising of the sun.
We are star stuff which has taken its destiny into its own hands.
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