Bret Stephens’ “Four Questions About American Greatness“
OK, so it’s barely Chanukah, let alone Passover (falls early this year, at the end of March).
And, the four questions** at the center of the festive meal (“seder”) are supposed to be religious, not secular.
But, it’s hard to read Bret Stephens’ piece in last week’s New York Times, and not imagine it as grist for the dinner table mill in thousands of American Jewish homes next Spring.
For anyone who wants a head start wrestling with them, here are the four questions Stephens poses:
“How do we treat foreigners?”
“What is our attitude toward independent thinking?”
“What is our attitude toward failure?”
“What is our attitude toward global leadership?”
Of course, if you want to see how Stephens answers his questions . . . read his column (note of encouragement to non-liberals: Stephens, formerly at The Wall Street Journal, is the putative house conservative on The NYT Op-Ed page. At least IMHO, he consistently out-shines his colleague, the intellectually preening David Brooks).
*Only a secular Jew would call it “Passover 2018.” A religious Jew would refer to it as “Passover (Pesach) 5775” – the date according to the Jewish calendar.
**According to Jewish tradition, here are the Four Questions:
“On all other nights, we eat chameitz and matzah. Why on this night, only matzah?”
“On all other nights, we eat all vegetables. Why, on this night, maror?”
“On all other nights, we don’t dip even once. Why on this night do we dip twice?”
“On all other nights, we eat either sitting upright or reclining. Why on this night do we all recline?”
