It is important to realize the value of a good argument. A legitimate argument is one that argues for the sake of finding the right solution. A misdirected argument is one that argues for the sake of being heard above the din. In the first instance, people listen to one another's side. In the second instance, they simply bellow to be heard.
We often get the two confused.
“…the old inner-city synagogue that had just moved to the suburbs acquired both a modern building and a modern rabbi.
At the first Sabbath service, when the congregation recited the Shema Yisrael prayer (“Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One…”) half the congregation stood up while half remained seated. The standing half yelled. “Stand up!” to the seated half, while the seated half yelled, “Sit down!” to the standing half.
The new rabbi was upset at the boisterous commotion, and after the service he asked representatives of both groups to meet with him and the old rabbi to ascertain the tradition of the congregation. At the meeting, the sit-down group asked the old rabbi whether it wasn’t the tradition to sit down. The old man pondered and then shook his head. “No, my children, that is not the tradition.”
The stand-up group was exultant as it said, “Then it must be the tradition that we stand up.”
Again the old rabbi pondered and again he shook his head in the negative.
“No, my children, that is not the tradition.”
At this point the new rabbi’s patience snapped and he thundered, “Rabbi, I can’t take it – half of them stand, half of them sit, they all yell at each other, and I can’t even ear myself think.”
The old rabbi pondered and nodded his head in the affirmative.
“That, my children, is the tradition.”
- told by Alan Dershowitz
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