WAGON WHEEL CENSUS: 5 Cars, 4 Trucks, 1 Runner.
Weather Report: Muggy
Dr. Temple Grandin and Rav Yisroel Salanter have probably never been the shared focus of any other person’s 600 words of morning musings. But I thought of both of them today, for they each taught fairly resonant important principles about the professions they represent.
When we were engaged in developing what still is the most comprehensive and important set of standards for ensuring that kosher food production is undertaken with equal concern for the welfare of workers, the earth, and the animals, Grandin offered us sage advice. Her colleague in some shared work was Dr. Joe Regenstein. While he was at Cornell and she at CSU, the two of them collaborated on many shared projects. When we were in the early stages of our work, one of the well-meaning and politically correct rabbis who wrote us suggested that we only apply the Magen Tzedek certification to “free-range chickens.” Regenstein asked if he could put in a call to Dr. Grandin for her answer. He knew the answer, but he wanted us to hear it from her. The answer: “free-range chickens are what Philosophy professors at CSU want to eat because that is how they imagine they would want to live if they were chickens.” She went on to say that there is no more cruel way for a chicken to live than in a free-range setting where predators could prey upon them: “Owls love free-range chickens.” She, of course, went on to say that there are appropriate types of cages for chickens and inappropriate types. So yes, Tyson-like factory chicken raising came in for the same type of criticism. (One day maybe I will share what Grandin considers to be the height of animal cruelty—you may not like the answer:)
Rav Salanter spent a lifetime trying to address the behavior of people in general and of Jews in particular. As a rabbi, he knew that undertaking that calling was going to mean he would sometimes have to speak truth to those who might be responsible for his very livelihood. There was always one teaching of his that I kept close to my heart and soul for the years I was privileged to lead a congregation. It was a quote that my friend YG had framed in his office as well. It went something like this: “A rabbi whose community does not disagree with him is no rabbi. A rabbi who fears his community is no ‘mensch.” Over the years of my congregational run, I had to remind myself of this teaching quite often. Success is not based on popularity, and my goals could not be achieved without courage. I think all would agree that the community we created together and the success of my career were, in part, due to understanding this teaching.
So, why did both of these folks occupy space in my brain today on my walk? COVID-19. I think that each of them, in their own way, was reminding us that those on the outside who want to set policy for situations that they really don’t fully understand are prone to errors and missteps that could be dangerous. Stated another way: all of us should be trusting the science as it relates to receiving the vaccine, and instead too many have turned to political commentators and misrepresenting facts to make their decisions. While many who reject the vaccine would hate to be compared to an “elitist” Philosophy professor, they both share a disdain for the facts that they are refusing to accept. And for those who refuse to mandate the vaccine, they are simply falling prey to the worries that Salanter himself described. Fearful of the wrath they will have to endure, they hide behind personal freedom and deny the value of communal well-being. Why? Because some people in a particular silo will call them out. It (literally!) is no way to live.
I have been lucky in my life to have had many wonderful teachers along the way. Included in that list are Temple Grandin and Yisroel Salanter.
