Elephants and Donkeys: Where Are the Humans?

It’s beyond absurd to witness the man-made problems we are creating today due to our divisiveness and inability to civilly communicate with each other — especially evident in the looming presidential election campaign. It’s bad enough that we have on our hands a global pandemic destabilizing and disorienting the citizens of the world — something which we did not bring upon ourselves. Why, in the world would we then magnify and complicate matters by bringing upon ourselves this maddening division to the point of hatred?!

One would think that when all of us are facing a national and international health crisis and all its disruptive effects, threatening us all equally, we would come together to serve our common and mutual interest. Instead, as bizarre as it sounds, the problems are only being amplified and exacerbated many times over by the politicization of the issues and the resulting polarization — tearing our country and the world apart! Where are our leaders?! Our politicians and media (with a few exceptions), instead of displaying unity, are in many ways at the “helm” of this great divide. Today’s media has become, in many ways, a form of “entertainment,” offering “gladiator”-style duels and showdowns, feeding into our basest instincts and lowest common denominator.

Imagine a family member falling ill, and instead of joining together to help their loved one, a family feud breaks out arguing over who is in control or other petty issues…

Our political process has been rendered into literally a battle between elephants and donkeys, leaving so many of us simply disgusted, and even cynical, about the entire system.

Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this eye-opening talk, as he finds insights and direction from a most surprising place: the very origins of the political parties association with the donkey (Democrats) and elephant (Republicans). What began in 1828 as an insult to Andrew Jackson, turned into a “proud” symbol of the Democratic party.

In this fascinating presentation, Rabbi Jacobson offers a refreshing — and even revolutionary — take on current events, and comes away with a new perspective and approach to our polarized society. Discover how we reintroduce the human spirit back into the mud-slinging wrestling match between the elephants and the donkeys. And above all, practical advice and guidelines how you and I — each one of us — can do things to be part of the solution (not part of the problem) and help remedy the situation.