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November 16, 2014

One might think that absolutism is a sign of strength. If one has “moral clarity” then they shouldn’t budge an inch on their position. Judaism takes a very different approach, arguing that compromise is the approach of the wise:

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Karcha says, It is a mitzvah to seek compromise. As it is written, “Truth and peaceful judgment should you judge in your gates. It would seem that where there is judgment there is no peace, and where there is peace there is no judgment. What is the judgment that incorporates peace? Compromise (Sanhedrin 6b).

Thee rabbis applied value to religious compromise. In the Talmud (Bava Metzia 30b), Rabbi Yochanan is quoted as saying that Jerusalem was destroyed in the time of the Romans only because the people judged according to the Torah. The astonished reply is, “What kind of judgment should they have applied—that of the sorcerers?” The reply: “What Rabbi Yochanan meant was that litigants insisted on strict enforcement of the law and were unwilling to compromise.” Rambam affirms this value for religious compromise (Hilchot Sanhedrin 22:4).

This is not only true for political matters but also for financial matters.

When Rabbi Nehuniah ben ha-Kaneh was asked the secret of his unusual longevity, one of the traits he mentioned was: “I was always willing to yield in monetary matters.” (Megillah 28a)

Yet, American history is replete with the tragic consequences of a failure to compromise. The Civil War, for example, was the result of eleven Southern states refusing to deal with an elected President who was opposed to slavery, and their attempt to secede and drive Union forces out by military force. Even though the Confederacy was defeated, the “Solid South” has retained an antipathy towards President Lincoln for a century and half.

Indeed, compromise, while at times painful, has produced enduring results. During the New Deal, President Franklin D. Roosevelt concentrated on economic issues rather than civil rights, and most often created policies based on a consensus of experts. In June 1934, President Roosevelt created The Committee on Economic Security (CES) for the task of developing “…at once security against several of the great disturbing factors in life–especially those which relate to unemployment and old age.” While the CES members quickly (January 1935) approved a way to create Social Security as well as disability and unemployment insurance, it did not find a means to encompass health insurance, and its funding depended on a regressive tax on individuals (once you pass the maximum threshold, you do not pay a penny more of tax). On the other hand, it cannot be denied that millions of elderly, disabled, and unemployed Americans faced starvation without this legislation, so overall the law has benefited our society .

It is no secret that compromise is a dirty word in Washington these days. Consider these examples of a partisan gridlock that has not been seen in generations:

·       Six Republican co-sponsors of a bill to establish a commission that would recommend steps to reduce the federal deficit reversed their position and voted no after President Obama supported the bill, which then failed to pass under Republicans requiring a 60-vote majority to pass.

·       In a televised interview in July 2013, House Speaker John Boehner justified the unprecedented lack of bills passed by Congress: “We should not be judged by how many new laws we create. We ought to be judged on how many laws we repeal.”

·       In November 2013, Senate Majority Leader (Democrat) Harry Reid charged that Senate Republicans had filibustered nearly half of all the presidential appointees in American history (82 of 168). Incredibly, an investigation of this claim turned out that Sen. Reid had understated the percentage. When separated by individual appointees who had been filibustered, it turned out that more than half (79 of 147) of all blocked Presidential appointees had been those nominated by President Obama in his first five years in office.

·       Jonathan Bernstein, a columnist for Bloomberg View, put things in perspective:  “The correct count of how many bills have been filibustered during Obama’s presidency is: approximately all of them.”

·       In a Pew Research poll released on November 12, while a majority of Democrats (52 percent) supported working with Republicans even if it disappointed some Democrats, fully two-thirds of Republicans (66 percent) supported this statement opposing compromise: “‘Stand up’ to Obama, even if less gets done in Washington.”

Can compromise be achieved in any area? Some possibilities exist. California’s recent approval of Proposition 47, which has reclassified some minor crimes from felony to misdemeanor (reducing sentences and the prison population overall), might spur a coalition of Democrats and libertarian Republicans (e.g., Rand Paul) to reduce the huge prison population. With five more state ballot victories (in Republican-dominated states) in November, 29 states have now passed minimum wage measures that are above federal levels, raising the hope that Congress will act to raise the federal minimum wage. However, one has the impression that if President Obama endorses either position, filibusters will ensue.

An even more compelling issue would require much less of a compromise. Recently, the United States was gripped with an hysterical, unscientific reaction to a small group of people coming home from Africa after having either treated or come in contact with people who had the Ebola virus. Kaci Hickox, who had worked for Doctors Without Borders with Ebola patients, came home asymptomatic and tested negative for Ebola. Yet New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, backed in support by Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York, initially put her in quarantine, citing an “abundance of caution.” Undeterred, Hickox stated that the Governor had “an abundance of politics” for spouting superstition rather than science. In Maine, Hickox’s troubles continued, as Maine’s Governor Paul LePage and health officials lent credence to the idea that Ebola might be spreading by means other than close contact with symptomatic patients and their fluids, and tried to confine her against her will. When a judge finally set Hickox free, Governor LePage indicated his lack of medical knowledge by stating: “We don’t know what we don’t know about Ebola,” but nevertheless maintained that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations for Ebola care were “totally false.” Another Republican representative wondered out loud why the Surgeon General had not gotten involved.

Usually, the U.S. Surgeon General would be the voice of American medical standards (many people still remember the Surgeon General’s report on smoking in 1964 that highlighted the health risks of tobacco smoking, and its beneficial effects on smoking sensation thereafter.) The Surgeon General’s role is to speak with the authority of American medical science, reporting consensus on health conditions and their treatment, and influencing medical care and consumer knowledge.

Unfortunately, since Regina Benjamin left the position in July 2013, the Senate has failed to vote on a successor. President Obama nominated Dr. Vivek Murthy, a graduate of Harvard and Yale who has an MBA in addition to his doctorate, and is an internist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and lecturer at Harvard Medical School. He is the son of immigrants and is an embodiment the American Dream. He also co-founded TrialNetworks, a software company that seeks to facilitate the synchronization of work among researchers and clinical trial investigators. As a relatively young man, he combines an extraordinary grasp of medical knowledge with a knowledge of modern technology that older candidates would not possess.

Dr. Murthy has been endorsed by former Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher, who served under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, as well as the American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, and American Heart Association. On November 12, the American Public Health Association joined with one hundred state and national health organizations to urge the Senate to approve Dr. Murthy as Surgeon General. The letter cited one of Dr. Murthy’s chief health concerns (certainly more serious than Ebola):

Dr. Murthy stated that educating the public about the obesity epidemic would be one of his top priorities as surgeon general. Thirteen states now have adult obesity rates above 30 percent, 41 states have rates of at least 25 percent, and every state is above 20 percent. Addressing the obesity epidemic is essential to improve health and reduce the growing rates of chronic disease, which now make up 75 percent of America’s health costs.

The reason why Dr. Murthy’s nomination has been held up defies description. While he was approved by the Judiciary Committee in February 2014, his nomination has since been blocked by Senate Republicans because he once tweeted that firearm violence constituted a health issue, and he supports a ban on assault weapons, to which the National Rifle Association objected, and as a result all Republicans (and some Democrats from states where the NRA is strongest) continue to block Dr. Murthy’s nomination.

The key question today is whether there is a lowest point that can be reached in a failure to compromise. Will we heed the warning of Rabbi Yochanan, or will we sink further into the political morass.

One’s character is not solely measured by their ideals, but also by how they’re willing to compromise. There are, of course, values that should not be compromised. But for the sake of peace, often we must compromise our upper hand even when we are certain of the truth. Rashi teaches that doing “the right and the good” “refers to a compromise, within the letter of the law” (Devarim 6:18).

The State of Israel is constantly compromising to try to bring peace. Yet, time and time again, peace talks fail even when so much compromise is offered. The art of compromise is far from easy and all of us have much to learn. So much more work needs to happen on the global, national, and interpersonal front. First, we must swallow our pride and be willing to retract on our absolutes for the sake of lasting peace. Our task is not merely pragmatic (spreading peace) but also epistemic (learning to humbly see some truth in opposing positions).

 

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz is the Executive Director of the Valley Beit Midrash, the Founder & President of Uri L’Tzedek, the Founder and CEO of The Shamayim V’Aretz Institute and the author of six books on Jewish ethics.  Newsweek named Rav Shmuly one of the top 50 rabbis in America.”

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