What if your very life depended on trusting people that you had learned explicitly to hate, feat, and distrust? Yikes! What a terrible question, right? You may not be able to answer it easily, but most likely you will never find yourself in such a dramatic situation, so no worries. Writer and former publisher of the Jewish Journal Rob Eshman talked with someone who did face that question, and he writes about their conversation in this October 2019 Los Angeles Times essay.
Eshman, “The Yom Kippur lesson I learned from a Muslim man”
- Early on in his essay, Eshman mentions a book he had just read that offers lessons on “how to heal the divisions that plague our country, our world, and ultimately, ourselves.” What is the principal lesson that Eshman details? Restate it. How persuasively does Eshman present this lesson? How did you come to that conclusion?
- Eshman writes with a very light touch. His essay is fairly short, and the information he reveals about author Al Samawi develops slowly and with minimal details. Is Eshman’s strategy effective? Why or why not? Would the essay have been more persuasive if Eshman had written more about Al Samawi? More about the situation in Yemen? More about something else that the essay touches on briefly? Explain your responses and your reasoning.
- Eshman’s essay is certainly not an example of the kind of academic writing that you’ll be doing in your classes, but it does follow a very clear They Say/I Say pattern. Through most of the essay, Eshman summarizes Al Samawi’s written and spoken statements; at various points, he quotes Al Samawi directly. When does Eshman employ direct quotes? For what kinds of statements? Do you think he should have used more direct quotations? Fewer? Explain your reasoning. (You may want to consult Chapters 2 and 3 of your text to help you think through these questions.)
- What do you remember learning as a child about people different from you and your family? Were you taught (explicitly or implicitly) to hate or fear any particular group? Now that you are no longer a child, have you questioned or challenged your beliefs about other people? If so, what have you done? If not, can you explain why not? Are you inclined to take up Eshman’s suggestion to “open your mind to the people and ideas you have learned to fear, distrust, or even hate”? Why or why not? Write an essay addressing these questions; use Eshman’s essay as your They Say.
They Say I Blog 
“How to heal the divisions that plague our country, our world, and ultimately, ourselves.” Pretty much Eshman explains, that in our world we are separated from one another through the beliefs. It’s pretty clear since the article writes about a Muslim man trusting those who he was raised not to trust in, “Jew”. His strategy is very effective since it makes me want to learn more, it’s not too little and it’s not too much information its just right to be able to read. I believe he shouldn’t add more or less, the article is written great, giving the right information but not spoiling this man’s story, which if you want to learn more, its best to read from his book. One direct quote that Eshman used was “The Jews are foxes”…”Even if they seem good, they’re always hiding something”. Demonstrating what Al Samawi was raised to believe from his school teacher. More quotes are not needed, giving too much info could lead to affecting the smoothness of the article. I was raised to treat others as you want to be treated, “the golden rule”. I never grew up to hate certain types of groups of people. Always as a kid, I felt it was unjust to hate others since we’re no better than someone else. I’ve always kept an open mind about other people’s views and beliefs. That’s the only way that one could become closer to those that are separated from us, to keep an open mind and not to judge those that have different views or beliefs in life but instead educate one another and try to understand what they’ve gone through, “empathy”.
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The main lesson Eshman is trying to convey is that there are no outsiders and it is the person who makes themselves an outsider. Eshman’s goal is to share how there are no outsiders and you shouldn’t classify yourself as an outsider based off of your own beliefs. If you don’t want to be an outsider then stop believing that you classify as an outsider. Eshman attempts to present this lesson by making you feel as if you are talking to the one who has a strong belief on the fact of not becoming an outsider to yourself. Eshman presents you with a conversation Al Samawi had with somebody who discovered this belief and attempts to put you in his shoes by making it stand out in the article and explains how it made him feel, trying to connect to the reader.
The strategy Eshman used by making the essay short was very effective, allowing the reader to connect more of the main idea given it did not have to do much about the person he is speaking to, but mainly what they said. The environment Al Samawi was raised in seemed very harsh which was one of the small details that actually add to the connection because not everybody would take the words he said to heart if he was raised in a wealthy and caring family. Much of society would think he is just saying words however he is privileged and what he is saying is just to make people feel better even though he can’t relate himself. This relates a lot to society today because people like to play the “minority card” on themselves making excuses for everything saying it is because they are are apart of whatever race they tend to be.
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I’ve read Rob Eshman’s article “The Yom Kippur lesson I learned from a Muslim man”, where Eshman speaks about an encounter he had with Mohammed Al Samawi at a book club meeting where he had just read his book. Eshman claims that the book really touched him and that meeting Mohammad himself really helped his perspective. Most of the article is of Eshman retelling Mohammed’s story on how he overcame his ingrained prejudices by consuming media from the “foxes” he was told about and how he seeks to help those who have these prejudices come together.
1. Eshman tries to teach the reader that beliefs separate almost everyone and that through taking risks and reaching out we can bridge those gaps. By using Mohammed’s story Eshman gives a real example of how this philosophy can and has worked and this evidence caused me to believe that this is exactly what Eshman was trying to get through to his audience.
2. Eshman reveals enough about the situation in Yemen and about Mohammed to get readers to understand his point and possibly get the reader interested in reading Mohammed’s book to find out more. I find that this writing style of giving little info was effective in his article and worked well for what Eshman was trying to accomplish.
3. Eshman used Mohammed’s words whenever he was trying to explain his ideas directly to the reader and used them often in his article which allowed for him to be detailed about his ideas and beliefs on Muhammed’s book.
4. Throughout my childhood, no group was excluded from my house from any ethnicity or religion, I knew no restriction on who I could talk to and was told to keep an open mind. Though I know that my family held their own beliefs about certain groups they never pushed their ides on to me then and don’t even now. Happily, I can say that Eshman’s philosophy is one I can relate to being of my own.
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