The centrifuge

A report on the Jewish nostalgia for a political home in the lead up to Michigan’s elections.

This is where democracy is truly tested. Not at the ballot box on Election Day, but long before, in classrooms where educators decide whether to avoid controversy or help students learn how to engage disagreement with curiosity, respect, and a recognition of one another’s humanity.

Like in many other Western countries, the center in France has capsized. All that’s left is the death-wish nihilism of the extremes—and an unhealthy dose of Islamist menace.

The classroom becomes an instrument for advancing political causes rather than a place where those causes are freely examined and debated.

What could our lives look like if we embraced the infinitesimal as infinite?