#988: Don't Be Naive

Note: This is a version of the sermon I delivered at Temple Beth El of Somerset this past Shabbat.

The Maggid of Dubno, Rabbi Yaakov Kranz, told the following story:

One fine afternoon, Benny found himself scratching his head. His neighbor, Sid, had returned a plate he had borrowed, but not just the plate. Resting atop the plate was a small saucer. Benny frowned. “Sid, what’s this?” “Oh,” Sid said airily, “the plate gave birth while it was at my house.”

Benny blinked. He was no fool—at least, not in his own estimation—but the saucer did look useful. So, with a shrug, he accepted it without further inquiry. A few weeks later, Sid came knocking again. This time, he borrowed a pitcher. And sure enough, when he returned it, there was a miniature pitcher tagging along.

“Mazal tov,” Sid explained, straight-faced. “Your pitcher had a baby.” Benny scratched his head but pocketed the little pitcher. A man would be crazy to argue with free household goods.

Months passed, and Sid came once more, this time with a special request. “Benny, my family’s having a big occasion,” he said, voice full of sincerity. “Could I borrow your silver candlesticks? Just for the night.”

By now, Benny saw Sid as a highly responsible borrower, perhaps even an asset to have as a neighbor. So, without hesitation, he lent Sid the candlesticks. Days passed. No candlesticks. A week. Two.

Finally, Benny rapped on Sid’s door. “Sid, my friend, what happened to my candlesticks?” Sid sighed, his face the picture of sorrow. “Benny, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but your candlesticks died.”

Benny turned red. “What nonsense! Candlesticks don’t die!” Sid spread his hands, perfectly calm. “Benny, Benny… When I told you your plate and pitcher had babies, you accepted it without question. If plates and pitchers can reproduce, well, then candlesticks can die.” — Morrison, Chanan. The Wit and Wisdom of the Dubno Maggid: Parables on the Torah Portion by the Master Jewish Storyteller (p. 206). (Function). Kindle Edition.

The moral of the story is that we have to take care to not be naive.

In the same vein, the Torah says in this week’s portion, “If there appears among you a prophet or a dream-diviner and he gives you a sign or a portent, saying, “Let us follow and worship another god”—whom you have not experienced—even if the sign or portent that he named to you comes true do not heed the words of that prophet or that dream-diviner.’

In other words, don’t allow your naivety lead you to improper conclusions. Even if that false prophet somehow manages to make a so-called miracle come true, we are commanded to keep in mind that he’s just a magician or a mentalist, not a real representative of God. It would be naive of us to accept a prophet on the basis of a magic trick.

Naivety is a very serious problem in America, and I imagine the whole world. We can get an idea of what the word means by looking at its etymology. It comes to us via Latin from the word nativus, meaning “one who has been born.”

Naive people, therefore, are those who are akin to babies in terms of their sophistication. They are trusting and gullible. They are likely likely to believe whatever they hear so long as they like the source. Naive people lack critical thinking skills, they lack the ability to say to themselves, “Hold on, hold on, back it up, that makes no sense.”

Avoiding naivety has always been an important survival skill for the Jewish people. Our history is littered with examples of how we have believed in the goodness of others only to be stabbed in the back when we stopped being useful. Sound familiar?

How can we avoid the pitfall of naivety? One way to do it is to demand or at least look for evidence, actual evidence of what you’ve been told. What you heard some guy say on the news or online is not good enough. Words are not proof of anything.

This is where the internet gets us into trouble. People with no business claiming to know anything at all suddenly become experts. It becomes difficult to sort through the logorreah online, to find what is true and what is false.

Another way to avoid naivety is to stop believing that everybody means well. I guess it’s fair to say that most people mean well, but remember that the word most means “the majority,” so that could be as low as 51%. Not everybody means well. A whole lot of folks are missing that spark of goodness we’re supposed to have.

A great many people only mean well for themselves. Even more people mean well only for those who are like them, and no one else. As if that weren’t bad enough, those who do mean well often fail to put those intentions into action. After all, it’s always easier to help oneself than it is to do the right thing or to tell the truth.

A third method to avoid naivety is not to mistake volume for correctness. Whenever there is a hue and cry about something that Israel has supposedly done wrong, there is a lot of pressure to join in on the protest. The sheer volume of the protest is enough to convince some naive people that Israel is the most evil nation in the world.

Many Jewish authors right now are facing fervent demands from their publishers and agents that they sign declarations of solidarity with the Palestinians and that they denounce Israel. The reason this is happening is that even educated people fall victim to this naivety.

Actually, I should say that educated people especially fall victim to this nonense. You won’t find your typical plumber or electrician or car mechanic mixed up in this nonsense. They know how the world works. No, it’s usually the pseudo-intellectuals that end up this naive, the ones who majored in nonsense.

The presidential election season begins right after Labor Day. We will be treated to so many claims by both parties. Whatever our political beliefs, let’s commit ouselves to fact checking what we’re told and to avoid being naive.

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