Rabbi Hirschfield has penned a courageous and compassionate book that calls people of all religions and faiths to dialogue and mutual understanding. Instead of advising that all religions reduce themselves to their common denominators, he urges religious advocates to maintain their own distinctives, but with great humility, and the awareness that we can always learn from others.
He calls us to recognize that our deepest convictions may be partial, or even flawed. He also reminds us that our beliefs and actions have consequences, and we must all be willing to admit that we may be mistaken.
He urges us to remain suspicious of "final solutions": "Both sides need to admit this--in all the divisive issues that make up our public life these days, whether we're talking about gay marriage, abortion, or gun control. I would love to hear gay rights activists say, in their push for gay marriage, 'We may be making a colossal mistake.' And I'd like to hear the same admission from the opponents of gay marriage. That admission on both sides is a prescription for the civility and thoughtfulness that is now so conspicuously absent from public life" (145).
Nobody is wrong about everything. And we must have the courage to admit that no one - including ourselves - is right about everything. Hirschfield is admittedly an idealist, but he is not naive. He provides great personal examples of his own growth and maturity in regard to a humble, yet confident, faith.
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