Message from the Region President

Words matter. Language has been on my mind lately. When I taught sixth grade Torah School, I had a unit on gossip. There is a story, I’m sure you’ve read a version of it, equating gossip to feathers. The gist of it is that when you scatter feathers to the wind, like words, it is impossible to get them all back. In that same Torah School class, I had a unit on bullying. We know that words affect kids. Imagine being told you can’t succeed, are stupid, are worthless day after day. Imagine going into a situation expecting to be disparaged and having no one stand up for you. Conversely, imagine having someone praise you and welcome you into their circle.

Words are like feathers, once scattered, it is impossible to get them all back.

Words matter. There is a deep divide in our world today. Social media fuels much of it. Unfortunately, when words are written, one cannot use facial expressions or body language to help interpret those words. I recently made a decision to silence those divisive memes on Facebook. By snoozing all political memes, I got back to the purpose of FB: staying connected with people. Let’s face it, a FB meme is not going to change anyone’s mind; rather, it seems to fan the flames. I may not care for a friend’s political stance, but still want to remain in contact. In just a day, my feed has dramatically changed. I don’t get as annoyed as I have in the past. Quite frankly, I was surprised at the difference and how quickly it changed.

Words matter. Through the lens of antisemitism, definition matters. I can’t tell you how many times I have wanted to reach through my screen, shake someone, and hand them dictionaries. The buzzwords—apartheid, colonialism, genocide—do people even know the definitions and how inaccurate they are when misapplied to Israel?

Staying connected with people.

Words matter. How we say them matters; how we write them matters; how we can so easily misconstrue them matters. My take on all this is both simple and hard. Get off your screens, filter content that inflames. Consider the impact of what you share and speak. Increase your kindness and compassionate behaviors.

Shabbat Shalom,
Wanda

 

Wanda Pitzele, CGLR President
cglrpresident24@wlcj.org