Make new choices in the year ahead

Rabbi Adam F. Miller

Several years ago, Ted Koppel spoke at the People of the Book event.

Mr. Koppel addressed the paradigm shift he observed in American culture, particularly in his field of news journalism. When he began his career, journalism focused on providing “the information that people needed to know.” Reporters sought to provide the public with the objective truth. That changed, in Mr. Koppel’s opinion, with the realization that news could be profitable. The reporting of news shifted to what Koppel described as “telling you what you want to know.”

We certainly can see this in the reality of today. We have news outlets that target audiences providing information that fits their perspective and worldview.

The shift Koppel identified in American society fits with human nature. It is always more desirable to hear the news we want to hear, or that suits our established views of the world. As a result, we tend to dismiss information that is not satisfactory, or doubt that which forces us to confront uncomfortable realities.

In one parable, a hospital patient becomes angry when his physician arrives. “Doctor, I have seen you numerous times in the last year. Every time you said there was nothing to worry about. Now I don’t have long to live. What happened?”

“Let the truth and right by which you are apparently the loser be more preferable for you than the falsehood and wrong by which are you are apparently the winner.”
~ Moses Maimonides

“I was the fifth doctor you visited for an opinion on your health,” replied the doctor. “I told you what you wanted to hear and each time you left my office happy. Do you really think that excessive drinking and smoking are good for your health?”

The medieval scholar and physician Moses Maimonides wrote, “Let the truth and right by which you are apparently the loser be more preferable for you than the falsehood and wrong by which are you are apparently the winner.”

We have an obligation, according to Maimonides, to seek out the truth, to be honest with others and, indeed, be honest with ourselves. The truth may be hard to hear, but it will be, for all of us, a blessing in the end.

One can accept the wisdom of Maimonides and, at the same time, acknowledge that this teaching does not make it any easier to overcome the natural inclination to take the easier path in life. We are especially conscious of this challenge during the upcoming Days of Awe. Beginning with that first call of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah, we will be called to review our choices from the past year. For 10 days, we will wrestle with the decisions that shaped our lives. Did we treat others with respect? Have we lived up to our potential? Does the path we have chosen lead to the outcome we desire?

As we contemplate those questions, one must also take stock of the answers being given and examine whether they represent an honest description of what took place. Are we giving the news as we want it to be with answers that spin the situation in our favor? Have we made mistakes and not yet owned them? What can we learn from this year to change ourselves and our choices for a better year ahead?

Each one of us must answer those questions, address the year that passed and prepare ourselves for the year ahead. Know that the path you have been on is not set in stone — we all have the power to make new choices in the year ahead. We can choose to hear the rest of the story, not only the parts that make us feel good.

We can choose to accept the moments when we are wrong and seek to repair the damage that has been done.

We can choose to move out of the places where we are comfortable and seek out the spaces that will challenge us to be our best selves.

We read those familiar words of Dr. Seuss in “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!”

You can steer yourself any direction you choose.

You’re on your own.

And you know what you know.

And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

May the choices we make lead to a path of sweetness and blessing.

Rabbi Adam Miller serves at Temple Shalom.