Honi the Circle-Maker, a rabbi of our tradition who lived in Judea in the first century BCE, had great foresight and was truly a champion of the people.
He taught us the lesson about the carob tree: One must plant well in one generation so that the next generation will benefit from a good harvest (Talmud Tractate Ta’anit 23a).
I have been thinking lately about the story of Honi and its message in connection to the events in the state of Wisconsin in the last six to eight months. Specifically, I consider the manner in which our state has recently gone about introducing, processing, debating, and passing new budget legislation.
In the past, citizens and their elected representatives have raised questions and sought answers in an open, transparent, courteous, thoughtful, and — for the most part — civil manner.
So I wonder: Why have things changed? How have our recent confrontational and hurried-through politics affected the dynamic that exists between the people and the three branches of their government?
I also consider the substance of the new laws that our legislators and governor have passed. And I wonder: If we implement these new ideas — ideas that seem to break fundamentally with past traditions of caring about our neighbor — what will the quality of life be like for future generations in Wisconsin? And how long will we have to live with the consequences of these proposals?
On the issue of civility and tone, I observed these examples over the last six months:
• Candidates for elected office concealed many of their true governmental agendas.
• The new administration of Gov. Scott Walker quickly sought to centralize certain rule-making powers in the executive branch.
• Senate and Assembly leaders hurried legislation through, actions recently declared in violation of our state’s open meetings law.
• State legislators used legal but questionable tactics to slow down or subvert the legislative process.
• And in April, when a group of 30 interfaith clergy met with assistants to the governor to voice our concerns (I was among them), it seemed to us that they met us only as a courtesy.
See the complete article in the July issue.
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