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.
Take not from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned.
The grand delusion of contemporary liberals is that they have both the right and the ability to move their fellow creatures around like blocks of wood - and that the end results will be no different than if people had voluntarily chosen the same action
We object not to the narration of the deeds of our unregenerate condition, but to the mode in which it is too often done. Let sin have its monument, but let it be a heap of stones cast by the hands of execration - not a mausoleum erected by the hands of affection.
Our self discoveries make us each a microcosm of the larger pattern of history. The inertia of introspection leads toward recollection, for only through memory is the past recaptured and understood. In the fact of experiencing and making the present, we are all actors.
I find it interesting that the meanest life, the poorest existence, is attributed to God's will, but as human beings become more affluent, as their living standard and style begin to ascend the material scale, God descends the scale of responsibility at commensurate speed.
It was a drowsy summer afternoon, and the Forest was full of gentle sounds, which all seemed to be saying to Pooh, 'Don't listen to Rabbit, listen to me.' So he got in a comfortable position for not listening to Rabbit.
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