Adath Jeshurun

Shab­bat Scholars

A monthly dis­cus­sion fol­low­ing the Kid­dush lunch.

Fall Shab­bat schol­ars:
Octo­ber 22nd: Bruce Gale: “Count­ing Jews in Louisville — The More Things Change, The More They Stay the Same”

Novem­ber 19th: Rhoda Faller of Ken­tucky Elder­Law: “The Truth About Med­ic­aid and Nurs­ing Homes”

Decem­ber 10th: Jas­mine Frockt: “The Myth of Polit­i­cal Polarization”

We are told fre­quently by polit­i­cal activists and the media that Amer­ica is extremely divided on just about every major issue of the day. The story is con­vinc­ing if we con­sider recent elec­toral volatil­ity, the dis­dain for com­pro­mise in Wash­ing­ton, and our own strong emo­tions about cer­tain par­ti­san lead­ers. Recent Polit­i­cal Sci­ence stud­ies tell a dif­fer­ent story. When asked about spe­cific poli­cies rather than par­ti­san­ship in pub­lic opin­ion sur­veys, our pref­er­ences are closer together than we may real­ize. Yet it is much eas­ier to throw up our hands in exas­per­a­tion with the other side than work together to find com­mon ground. Who ben­e­fits from inflamed divi­sions in soci­ety and why? What can the aver­age per­son do to dif­fuse polit­i­cal ten­sions and help our lead­ers work toward pol­icy consensus?