Contending that the Internet, and social media in particular, have had a corrosive impact on public discourse in democratic countries across the world, Micah Goodman looks to the talmudic tradition for a model of healthy disagreement. The Talmud, after all, is a collection of arguments about the Mishnah, itself a collection of arguments—and it is typically studied along with its medieval commentaries, which argue with one another.
Because many of these opinions—most notably, those of the academy of the ancient sage Shammai—have been rejected by subsequent jurisprudence, Goodman contends that “Jewish tradition expects us to study opinions that we’re not allowed to live by.” (Video, 56 minutes.)
Read more on Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs: https://jcpa.org/video/what-does-jewish-thought-have-to-say-about-the-worldwide-epidemic-of-political-polarization/