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THE SPOKEN WORD
Speeches by world and national leaders occupy a great deal of our attention these days. The United States has for the first time in decades (since perhaps Ronald Reagan) a true orator in Barack Obama. His speeches were a vital part of his campaign for the presidency and in the words of Theodore Roosevelt he uses his office as “a bully pulpit” effectively and constantly.
Perhaps since the days of Franklin Roosevelt, no president has presented himself as so effective a communicator as has Obama. And he has been able to do so in spite of the prevailing 30 second sound-bite that shackles almost all other political leaders.
In a frightening way much of what is happening in today’s world is reminiscent of the decade of the 1930’s. Growing anti-Semitism, war weariness, economic crisis, a lack of confidence in governments and systems, fearsome weapons of war, constant “little wars,” declining empires and emerging powers, are all eerily familiar reminders to us of the world scene that existed nearly eighty years ago.
And at that time, the spoken word, amplified through radio, came to be the source of confrontation, inspiration, hope and despair. In Germany, Hitler’s strident voice and demonic speeches hypnotized a whole country into believing that it was a master race and therefore entitled to conquer, rule, destroy and annihilate those it deemed inferior.
Franklin Roosevelt’s voice gave Americans hope but no fireside chat by itself could cure the ills of the Great Depression. Mussolini strutted on a balcony and proclaimed the rebirth of the Roman Empire and most Italians originally took him seriously. Winston Churchill warned darkly and accurately of the coming Armageddon with his matchless prose and distinctive oratory. The spoken word was in vogue.
I would imagine that Binyamin Netanyahu’s speech (which I have not heard since this brilliant article is being written early on Sunday morning) will also contain fine oratory but will not really satisfy the Palestinians, the American government, the members of his coalition, the European Union or many Israelis. But it is important that such a speech be given for Israel cannot abandon the spoken word to our enemies and detractors.
None of the Israeli prime ministers has really been an effective orator and that has been a defect in our generally ineffective public relations presentations. Netanyahu is the best speaker of the lot, both in Hebrew and certainly in English.
A clear statement of Israel’s goals and policies and a rousing defense of our security measures would certainly be of great domestic and international importance. The great messages of the prophets of Israel were delivered orally to the people and only later were they reduced to writing. It is not accidental that the Lord gave us the Oral Law together with the written Torah in order to complete His message to us.
The spoken word has great power. The Torah is completely dependent upon the Oral Law and its continued development over the generations for understanding and being able to meet the challenges of different times and places. The nuances of the human voice tell us a great deal, insights that more often than not cannot be expressed simply by the written word.
My great teacher and mentor Rabbi Chaim Kreiswirth of blessed memory told me often that the greatest weapon that a rabbi has in one’s arsenal is the spoken word. Much of what contributed to the secularization of Eastern European Jewry in the nineteenth and early twentieth century was the silence of the rabbinic leaders of the time.
Rabbis that only spoke publicly a few times a year and then in a very scholarly fashion were unable to rouse the masses of Jews to the cause of tradition. The Left and the secularists abounded with orators whose message, false and misleading as it eventually turned out to be, was heard and believed.
Our enemies speak in a loud voice while we confine ourselves to cold and dispassionate press releases. The Lord continually orders Moshe to speak to the Jewish people. The Talmud taught us the principle that silence is capable of being interpreted as admittance.
Especially in our world of instant world-wide communication the ability to speak clearly and well and to articulate a meaningful Jewish message is of crucial and vital importance. Our schools should emphasize public speaking not as an elective but as a required course. We can avoid the disasters of the twentieth century only if we are able to impress others with our views through our spoken words.
Shabat shalom.
