CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

jews d

in
the

continued from page 10

25th Annual Celebration

Jewish Senior Life’s Eight Over Eighty
recognizes eight distinguished leaders
in our community, all over the age of 80,
who have demonstrated a lifetime
of dedication to the Jewish value of
Tikkun Olam - Repairing the World.

FOR NOMINATION FORMS

www.jslmi.org/events/eight-over-eighty
or contact
Beth Tryon at 248-592-5026 TTY #711
Btryon@jslmi.org

Nominations will be accepted
through January 7, 2018

SAVE THE DATE

25th Annual Eight Over Eighty Event
Sunday, April 29, 2018

11:30am at Adat Shalom Synagogue

FOR SPONSORSHIP INFORMATION

PLEASE VISIT
www.jslmi.org/events/eight-over-eighty

checked and some were outright
myths already debunked by Snopes,
the fact-checking website.
In the past year, tempers have flared
even more with friends attacking
friends on Facebook over everything
from the NFL’s national anthem con-
troversy, gun control, the Russian
interference in the election and
Donald Trump’s policies. No topic is
off limits when it comes to firing shots
in the comment section of Facebook
and real friendships become the col-
lateral damage.

OPEN DISCUSSION?

I was recently tutoring a young
woman for her bat mitzvah and we
were studying the Tower of Babel story
within her Torah portion. I explained
that God was so angered that humans
would try to build a tower to the sky
that God punished them by confound-
ing their languages so they couldn’t
communicate with one another.
Immediately, this wise 13-year-old
girl said, “In my bat mitzvah speech,
I want to talk about how we com-
municate with each other.” And she
immediately hit the nail on the head
by explaining the negative effects that
occur from the way teens talk to each
other in the 21st century.
Rather than speaking face-to-
face, today’s teens send coded text
messages, Snapchat messages that
disappear after several seconds and
comments under the photos they
post on Instagram. The language they
use is different from what any prior
generation would recognize. One mis-
interpreted emoji or abbreviation can
mean the end of a friendship.
On Facebook, it’s not only the teens
who resort to insults and abusive lan-
guage when someone offends them
with a strongly held opinion. Earlier
generations wouldn’t understand
how your crazy liberal uncle can get
into a heated debate with some girl
you went to summer camp with a few
decades ago.
When adults begin threatening to
“unfollow” or “unfriend,” we quickly
find ourselves feeling trapped and
annoyed in a fourth-grade-esque
insult circus. Cutting off contact with
someone with opposing ideology will
never further discussion, debate and
democracy. Sadly, a lot of people on
Facebook are close-minded, unwilling
to listen to opposing opinions.
“As a former elected nonpartisan
who saw the necessity and advantage
of working with both sides, I’ve been
disappointed by how many friends
haven’t been interested in having an
open discussion,” said Gerald Naftaly,
former Oak Park mayor. “Rather than

agree on a point or
two, some just don’t
want to consider
that there’s another
point of view. Many
have gone on the
attack or defense,
depending on the
Gerald Naftaly
tone of the posts.”
Two years ago,
the Pew Research
Center surveyed 10,000 Americans
and found that “Republicans and
Democrats are more divided along
ideological lines — and partisan
antipathy is deeper and more exten-
sive — than at any point in the last
two decades.” That report confirms
that “ideological silos” are now com-
mon on both the political left and
right. People with down-the-line ideo-
logical positions are more likely than
others to say that most of their close
friends share their political views.
Facebook has become an echo
chamber and when we see a view-
point that is diametrically at odds
with our own political views, we go on
the offensive.
Lisa Bernstein of Ann Arbor shared
how political debate on Facebook has
changed her relationships. “There was
a meme after the
election about peo-
ple dreading being
with their families
on Thanksgiving.
I didn’t share the
meme [on my
Facebook account],
but I liked it, and
Lisa Bernstein
I guess it showed
up on my mom’s
Facebook page.
I got a call the next day asking
if I was dreading going there for
Thanksgiving.”
Missy Kirshner of Commerce said,
“It seems that people are becoming
bolder about spout-
ing their beliefs
on social media,
particularly after
the election. People
are jumping on any
report and bending
the facts to assert
their political opin-
ion. It’s too much.
Missy Kirshner
And not only have
I had to ‘unfriend’
certain individuals, it has colored my
feelings toward them when I see them
in person.”
When we leave our manners and
civility behind and engage in politi-
cal grenade-launching on Facebook,
nothing good will ever come from it.
I don’t know anyone who had their
mind changed because someone told
them they were crazy, unintelligent

continued on page 14

12

November 16 • 2017

jn

J

