Can We Talk? A 2003 interview with Douglas Rushkoff that still pertains

Dec 10

Jeanette Friedmanbook review, commentary, Internet, Jews, judaism, people No Comments

DOUGLAS RUSHKOFF: Can We Talk?
By Kenneth Applebaum with an intro by Jeanette Friedman

THIS WAS WRITTEN IN 2003

The Jerusalem Report called him an atheist because he is an iconoclast, but then, the writer who was so supremely critical of this young, 42-year old deep thinker, Douglas Rushkoff, obviously doesn’t understand the second of the Ten Commandments. Jews are the original iconoclasts. That’s why everyone else hates them—for that and providing the world with the rest of the Ten Commandments. But people don’t get it. Douglas Rushkoff, author of Nothing Sacred, does get Judaism, very, very well. And because he does, more and more institutional Jews and Jewish institutions see him as a threat to their well-being.

Why? Because he asks good, hard questions and understands that we might not like what happens when we get the answers. And as anyone who ever read or saw Yentl knows, you are judged by the questions you ask. Many of us know from our own Hebrew School and Yeshiva experiences that we really aren’t supposed to ask questions, because a: our teachers (rabbis) might not have the answers or b: they don’t want you to know the answers, c: they are afraid of the answers. It seems they want to be the exclusive holders of the supreme knowledge and interpretation of the Torah.

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