Question: I am shocked by the resurgence of antisemitism in the world. When Jew-hatred comes from backward extremists and street mobs, it isn't so surprising. But when university-educated western academics, who know history and have access to the facts, are able to demonize Israel and the Jewish people, something is wrong. Has the world gone mad?
Response: The academics who single out Israel for contempt are guilty of ignoring the facts. But those who are shocked by it are also guilty of ignoring the facts.
History has shown that being educated has nothing to do with being moral. Some of the most cultured people have also been the most evil.
The Holocaust was committed by men who appreciated classical music and read the works of great philosophers. From the very cradle of modern culture and enlightenment came the most barbarous inhumanity the world has ever seen. The notion that evil stems from the ignorant masses, and the enlightened class are paragons of goodness is a dangerous myth.
Ideas have consequences. The typical modern education, that teaches moral relativism, that there is no absolute right and wrong, that there is no objective truth and there is no G-d, is teaching moral confusion. And in a moral vacuum, anything can be justified. Intellect alone, without higher values, can make the ugliest human impulses sound sophisticated, and the most depraved behaviour seem acceptable. There are evil geniuses too.
This is worth bearing in mind when choosing an education for our own children. Academic outcomes do not a mensch make. "The beginning of wisdom is fear of G-d." (Psalms 111:10). A good education needs to be based on solid values. We need schools that will not just sharpen our children's minds by teaching them to read and write, but will sharpen their moral character by teaching wrong from right.
