My first career was as an attorney. In law school, I learned that the opening statement is the most critical part of a trial. Once people choose a side, they become fiercely resistant to change; altering an opinion requires admitting a mistake. Today, this exact psychological dynamic plays out in politics. 

Speaking as an American Jew, I know that for decades, many Jews—myself included—prided themselves on their liberal views. We stood staunchly behind the Democratic Party and championed the moral necessity of lifting up the less fortunate. I lived those values. I volunteered for battered women’s shelters, spent a law school semester working for the National Wildlife Federation, and dedicated a summer to the Public Defender’s Office. Even after joining a private law firm, I spent much of my time on pro bono work before eventually becoming a union attorney. When I later left the legal profession to become a teacher, it was driven by that same civic passion: where better to shape the minds of the future generation than in a classroom? 

Because of this background, I was utterly dumbfounded after the October 7 massacre by the silence of the people we had previously marched alongside. Worse........

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