MARCH 14 • 2024 | 55

of pure power.
In another essay, published in 
1944, Singer addresses a differ-
ent challenge to morality based 
on the philosophical or scien-
tific concept of determinism. If 
all our actions are determined, 
then we have no free will, and 
nothing remains of “the Ancient 
Jewish Notion that Good and 
Evil Are Always Battling Inside 
Us.
” Religious Jews, according 
to Singer, believe that we have 
a good angel that prompts us 
to do good, and an evil angel 
that prompts us to do evil, but 
that we have free will to choose. 
Some thinkers who do not 
believe in angels, still believe 
that “good and evil inclina-
tions exist within humankind.
” 
However, “a long line of philos-
ophers believed that people do 
not have free will.
” Causes with-
in our bodies determine our 
actions. “If we knew the human 
body precisely . . . we would see 
that this person had no choice.
” 
Even determinists recog-nize 
that we need courts of justice. 
Though criminals “had to com-
mit their crimes,
” the judge and 
jury have to convict them. 
Singer explores paradoxes 
that follow from determinism. 
Marxists, for example, identify 
as pure materialists, and believe 
the future is deter-mined by 
objective forces. Even so, “No 
Marxists ever reached the point 
where they left everything up to 
history.
” Every Marxist has “to 
accept the necessity of agitation 
somewhere.
” However much 
of what he writes is based on 
determinism, “Practical life has 
shown us, at every step of the 
way, that if you take an action 
you may reach your goal, and 
if you take no action you reach 
nothing. No one can exist on 
philosophy alone. “
Singer contrasts the psycho-
analytic approach to the evil 
angel within us, that we should 
get to know our darkest impuls-
es, with what he sees as the 

classical Jewish approach: Tame 
the evil spirit, don’t try to kill it, 
and don’t try to concentrate on 
it. When you decide that your 
impulse to act comes from the 
evil angel, “keep it bound up 
and shut its mouth . . . Why 
analyze the Devil when you 
can ignore him? The entirety 
of Jewish ethics is built on this 
viewpoint.
”
Some modern scientists still 
argue about whether we need 
to resort to randomness in 
order to understand the phys-
ical world; if we do, scientists 
can dispute whether that leaves 
room for free will; but, as Singer 
noted decades ago, even deter-
minists act as if they believe 
they have free will. 
Several of Singer’s essays 
express his anxiety about the 
survival of Yiddishkayt, a word 
with many nuances. Stromberg, 
the translator, explains that “it 
can mean Judaism, Jewish life, 
anything having to do with 
Yiddish culture or language, 
and, in its most vague sense, 
can be Jewishness or even 
Yiddishness.
” 
Can Jews who have never 
learned at Cheder, never read 
classic Jewish texts, never par-
ticipated in a rich Jewish cul-
ture, never even spoken good 
Yiddish, succeed in transmitting 
anything to the next generation? 
Or will coming generations 
inevitably consist of Jews pro-
gressively more ignorant and 
indifferent to Jewish culture and 
to other Jews? 
White Goat Press, a relatively 
new publishing house dedicated 
to presenting important works 
of Yiddish literature in new 
English translation, and David 
Stromberg, translator of these 
journalistic columns, deserve 
our thanks for making this 
fascinating collection available 
to us. Keep alert for the appear-
ance of the next two volumes of 
translations of Singer’s percep-
tive essays. 

J

ust in time for Purim, 
at 7 p.m. on March 20, 
the Eastern Michigan 
University’s Center for 
Jewish Studies will bring 
comedian Ariel Elias to 
perform at the Sponberg 
Theatre at Eastern Michigan 
University.
In October 2022, stand-up 
comedian Ariel Elias was 
performing her act on stage 
when a group of customers 
heckled her for “voting for 
Biden” and threw a beer 
bottle at her. Elias, with 
unflappable cool, told the 
customers off and then 
picked up the thrown beer 
and drank it. A clip of this 
incident went viral, catapult-
ing Elias’ career. 
A slew of famous come-
dians and celebrities praised 
her publicly for how she 
handled the incident. She 
has since had her debut on 

Jimmy Kimmel Live and is 
touring widely. She has been 
featured in Rolling Stone, 
the Washington Post and 
was named a “New Face” 
at the 2021 Just For Laughs 
Comedy Festival and as one 
of the Best Comedians of 
2022 by Paste Magazine. 

In her act, Elias mines 
humor from her struggles 
with body dysmorphia and 
from growing up Jewish 
in Kentucky. In one classic 
bit, she talks about how her 
name, Ariel, is pronounced 
by Jews and then by people 
in the South, where it is 
basically “Earl.” Elias has 
a prominent presence on 
social media and is a come-
dian with a rising profile. 

In partnership with Hillel, this event 

is free. To register, email rerlewi2@

emich.edu. Robert Erlewine is 

director for the Eastern Michigan 

University Center for Jewish Studies.

Stand-up comedian Ariel Elias 
to put on free show March 20.

An Evening of 
Comedy at EMU

ROBERT ERLEWINE SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

COMEDY

Ariel Elias