Rabbi’s Corner – Mixed Seating Edition

Dear Friends,
Despite being a media junkie, I’ve never been a fan of watching the State of the Union address live on television. The text is usually distributed to media outlets for their analysis and some even publish a transcript so there is no risk of missing the content. My own reservations of the event itself were best summarized by Chief Justice John Roberts’ declining to attend in person: “To the extent the State of the Union has degenerated into a political pep rally, I’m not sure why we are there.”

But this year there was a completely different tone to the SOTU address. In a display of solidarity for the recovering Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, the seating in the chamber was not the typical “left” and “right” groups but rather Democrats sat next to their Republican colleagues. Senator Barbara Boxer described the palpable difference as follows:

I felt in the audience those of us who were sitting in a different configuration, I think it was less of a kind of a cheering squad for the president, or a booing squad if you will…I think it was kind of more grown up…I don’t know–it just seemed more appropriate the way we were responding to the president.
In a time when political discourse has been particularly contentious, the simple act of sitting next to a colleague – of removing an artificial physical barrier – can itself mitigate divisiveness. Of course each side would still have their ideologies, but just treating each other as equals and not opponents is a huge step for overcoming the pettiness which so often permeates politics.

I’d like to extend this metaphor to any sort of divisions we may have with fellow Jews. It is relatively easy to find what divides us, be it religious or social, and pretend that large segments of our community simply do not exist or worse, that we can cheer for our group and boo another. I’d like to suggest that at least in this respect we ought to look at Congress as an example and simply sit with those “other” people. We just might find that they are not as different as we once have thought.

Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Josh Yuter