November 6, 2024 • 9 mins
TIME FOR SOME CLEAN SPEECH AFTER THAT ELECTION And just in time is Clean Speech Colorado, the annual event from the Jewish Experience and it is lovely and sorely needed right now. Rabbi Leban joins me at 1:10 to talk about it but you can sign up at the bottom of this website to get the daily emails and catch up on what you've missed. It's a really cool way to start your day. This video is yesterday's lesson and I think it's especially timely today after a contentious election.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I was talking about this earlier because I love this event.
It happens every year. It runs for the month of
November and it is called Clean Speech Colorado and it
is very simple. You sign up. I put a link
on the blog to the sign up and you go
sign up and you get a video every day. You
(00:21):
can either read it. They send the copy as well,
so if you're like me and you're a reader, you
could read it really quickly. But the videos are about
two and a half three minutes long tops. They're really short,
and they just talk about a different aspect of speech.
And so I don't know if Rabbi Liban is here yet.
Rabbi can you hear me? You can perfect okay, Bret,
(00:42):
I couldn't see you, and I wasn't sure if you
were actually there. First of all, welcome back for yet
another time another converse. Well, you know what, on November first,
in my email, I got my first edition of Clean
Speech Colorado and I went, oh my gosh, it's time
to talk to Rabbi Leban So tell people why this
got started, because now it's growing all over the country.
(01:03):
But let's talk about the origins of Clean Speech Colorado.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Absolutely, really it shouldn't be too hard to imagine. Many
years ago, maybe six or eight, there was this growing
sense in America, after some contentious elections, that the tone
of civil discourse had taken a serious nosedive. I was
hit again and again and again with people on friending
(01:29):
each other on Facebook because of politics. That may seem
like old news, but when it first started, it struck
us all right in the face, and there was a
real recognition that we need to we need to review
some of our skills and buck up on bone up
on some of our skills, and just how we can
speak respectfully and be mindful of the kind of tone
(01:51):
of our discourse. That really put us into motion.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Well, I wantn't be clear because this is not in
the actual clean space each videos. You don't really talk
about politics. You talk about it from the perspective of
Jewish tradition, Jewish lessons, Jewish learning that come from your faith,
about using words for good. I mean, I'm sort of
oversimplifying it here. So I don't want people to think
(02:15):
this is about politics, even though it's the perfect time
for this because of politics. Wouldn't you say.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
It really is It's not a campaign about politics at all.
That weise the word campaign. But it's just that I
think some as I said, some real sense of us
in them that emerged from some difficult you know, political
campaigning really identified or emphasized the need for us to
(02:42):
to be more sensitive about the way we speak. But
the way we speak is I'm not trying to affect
political campaigning. I think that's kind of beyond my my
sphere of influence. But what I really hope is that
all of us who are living through these times and
through these campaigns and through the up that we and
the tumble that we feel, just there's a lot of
(03:03):
us then mentality, and there's a lot of anger and vitriol,
and you know, I don't have to tell you everybody
knows how bad is out there. So what that is
something I do think that we can address. I think
we can improve upon, and I think each of us
that's the underlying theme of the campaign. Each of us
can really be more aware, be more sensitized, and be
more careful about the way that we speak to of them.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Well, I actually put on my blog I embedded yesterday's
lesson about judging others favorably because I thought today, of
all days, that is the perfect message for us to hear.
And at the beginning of the show, I talked about
my view that for me personally, I'm not taking a
victory lap, I'm not gloating, I'm not doing any of
(03:45):
that because there are a lot of people in this
country that woke up today really genuinely scared of what
is going to happen next. And I don't think it's
productive to, you know, cry about liberal tears or whatever
it is. But I do think there's an opportunity here
to say to people, we understand why you feel the
way you do because you've been sold a bill of
(04:06):
goods that is telling you to feel this way, but
at the same time not judging them harshly. You know,
it's like the US versus them mentality is not helpful
and it won't help us as a nation, and it
certainly doesn't help our interpersonal relationships.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Exactly well said, we have to realize in an election
season that was really so so divided. I mean, we
were all on the edge of our seats because the
country was fundamentally so fifty to fifty. That means that
there's a half the people out there that don't think
the way that we do, and there needs to be
a certain just a general respect for those individuals. We
(04:41):
may differ with them, we may differ with them strongly,
and that's okay, and a democracy can handle that. A
community can handle that, but a community and the docracy
can't fall apart from it. And if there's there needs
to be a recognition of the of the greater strength
of the relationships that we all want to have. When
when when this campaign was launched, it was primarily focused
(05:03):
on on the Jewish community of Colorado, and uh, and
even within our own community, there's plenty of differences of opinion.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
That's that's okay.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
But what's what's not okay is when we start to
defame character because of that difference of opinion, or we
start to speak in an offensive and an aggressive way,
and then it becomes slander and then it just it
just cuts us in pieces relationships, families, you know, congregations
and communities, and that's uh, and that's really what what
(05:34):
we underscore as a general rule. And you you you
picked out a nice lesson, which is judging others favorably
means to try to find in effect and uh, the
points of commonality between you know the two of you,
and to and to recognize that that well meaning people
could have different opinions about the same manner. The world
is not nobody, you know, nobody's going to think exactly
(05:56):
like me, and everybody's entitled to think the way that
they think, and it doesn't take away from their from
their value as a human being or as a member
of our community, my family, a friend, et cetera. I
recommended that that this week, that uh, that now that
the election is over, it'd be a time when when
when we uh go out, you know, past our comfort
(06:16):
zone and maybe specifically be in touch with some of
the folks that that we know that didn't vote the
way that we voted and just try to be friendly
for sure, not to rub their noses in it, but
to be to be warm. Let's you know, the the
the politicians are going to speak in sort of general
terms about rebuilding our unity of our country and and
(06:37):
and that's all right and true. But we are the
people on the ground, and we can do that by
taking active steps to maintain or to rebuild or to
reinforce relationships of warmth and friendship and respect even with
people who are on the opposite side of political or
o from us.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Rabbi Leman is my guest. One of the things I
really like about this, Rabbi, and I don't know if
this is a feature or a bug, but I'm learning
more about the Jewish traditions behind all of this, because
it's all rooted in the Jewish traditions you taught. You
know that throughout there's little snippets. It's not proselytizing. I
don't want to make it sound like that, but it's
very interesting for someone of a different faith to have
(07:19):
a little window into some of the things that Jews believe.
And I think in this day and age, that's very useful.
You know, that's very productive in and of itself. Was
that also a reason you're doing this or was this
just a side effect?
Speaker 2 (07:36):
It's the lessons that are being taught in the daily
videos of Queen Speech Colorado are absolutely universal lessons. These
are things that should improve the lives of any member
of humanity that's interested, and they really can't. They're very,
very universal in their applicability and then the personal benefit
(07:56):
they'll all experience. Everyone knows what it's like to suffer
from an uncomfortable relationship or painful. Things that aren't going
well with a family member or a friend or a
colleague at work, you know, can be very very upsetting,
very debilitating, and so all of us will also readily
appreciate the benefits of being more adept at handling those relationships.
(08:19):
And fundamentally, relationships are conducted through speech, So when we
sensitize ourselves to the patterns of speech that we use,
we will automatically become more sensitized to each other and
to the relationship and improve the relationship. Can all do that?
Speaker 1 (08:35):
It is an excellent program. It takes two and a
half minutes, maybe three on the outside, if there's a
slightly longer one. Every single morning I put a link
on the blog so you can sign up and start
getting your emails tomorrow, and then next year you already
signed up, so you can just keep going with clean speech.
How many cities are doing a version of clean speech now, Rabbi.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
We're up to about a dozen different cities in Erica,
in Canada, and in the United Kingdom also so throughout
the English world, really all over the place.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
That is fantastic
I was talking about this earlier because I love this event.
It happens every year. It runs for the month of
November and it is called Clean Speech Colorado and it
is very simple. You sign up. I put a link
on the blog to the sign up and you go
sign up and you get a video every day. You
(00:21):
can either read it. They send the copy as well,
so if you're like me and you're a reader, you
could read it really quickly. But the videos are about
two and a half three minutes long tops. They're really short,
and they just talk about a different aspect of speech.
And so I don't know if Rabbi Liban is here yet.
Rabbi can you hear me? You can perfect okay, Bret,
(00:42):
I couldn't see you, and I wasn't sure if you
were actually there. First of all, welcome back for yet
another time another converse. Well, you know what, on November first,
in my email, I got my first edition of Clean
Speech Colorado and I went, oh my gosh, it's time
to talk to Rabbi Leban So tell people why this
got started, because now it's growing all over the country.
(01:03):
But let's talk about the origins of Clean Speech Colorado.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Absolutely, really it shouldn't be too hard to imagine. Many
years ago, maybe six or eight, there was this growing
sense in America, after some contentious elections, that the tone
of civil discourse had taken a serious nosedive. I was
hit again and again and again with people on friending
(01:29):
each other on Facebook because of politics. That may seem
like old news, but when it first started, it struck
us all right in the face, and there was a
real recognition that we need to we need to review
some of our skills and buck up on bone up
on some of our skills, and just how we can
speak respectfully and be mindful of the kind of tone
(01:51):
of our discourse. That really put us into motion.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Well, I wantn't be clear because this is not in
the actual clean space each videos. You don't really talk
about politics. You talk about it from the perspective of
Jewish tradition, Jewish lessons, Jewish learning that come from your faith,
about using words for good. I mean, I'm sort of
oversimplifying it here. So I don't want people to think
(02:15):
this is about politics, even though it's the perfect time
for this because of politics. Wouldn't you say.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
It really is It's not a campaign about politics at all.
That weise the word campaign. But it's just that I
think some as I said, some real sense of us
in them that emerged from some difficult you know, political
campaigning really identified or emphasized the need for us to
(02:42):
to be more sensitive about the way we speak. But
the way we speak is I'm not trying to affect
political campaigning. I think that's kind of beyond my my
sphere of influence. But what I really hope is that
all of us who are living through these times and
through these campaigns and through the up that we and
the tumble that we feel, just there's a lot of
(03:03):
us then mentality, and there's a lot of anger and vitriol,
and you know, I don't have to tell you everybody
knows how bad is out there. So what that is
something I do think that we can address. I think
we can improve upon, and I think each of us
that's the underlying theme of the campaign. Each of us
can really be more aware, be more sensitized, and be
more careful about the way that we speak to of them.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Well, I actually put on my blog I embedded yesterday's
lesson about judging others favorably because I thought today, of
all days, that is the perfect message for us to hear.
And at the beginning of the show, I talked about
my view that for me personally, I'm not taking a
victory lap, I'm not gloating, I'm not doing any of
(03:45):
that because there are a lot of people in this
country that woke up today really genuinely scared of what
is going to happen next. And I don't think it's
productive to, you know, cry about liberal tears or whatever
it is. But I do think there's an opportunity here
to say to people, we understand why you feel the
way you do because you've been sold a bill of
(04:06):
goods that is telling you to feel this way, but
at the same time not judging them harshly. You know,
it's like the US versus them mentality is not helpful
and it won't help us as a nation, and it
certainly doesn't help our interpersonal relationships.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Exactly well said, we have to realize in an election
season that was really so so divided. I mean, we
were all on the edge of our seats because the
country was fundamentally so fifty to fifty. That means that
there's a half the people out there that don't think
the way that we do, and there needs to be
a certain just a general respect for those individuals. We
(04:41):
may differ with them, we may differ with them strongly,
and that's okay, and a democracy can handle that. A
community can handle that, but a community and the docracy
can't fall apart from it. And if there's there needs
to be a recognition of the of the greater strength
of the relationships that we all want to have. When
when when this campaign was launched, it was primarily focused
(05:03):
on on the Jewish community of Colorado, and uh, and
even within our own community, there's plenty of differences of opinion.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
That's that's okay.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
But what's what's not okay is when we start to
defame character because of that difference of opinion, or we
start to speak in an offensive and an aggressive way,
and then it becomes slander and then it just it
just cuts us in pieces relationships, families, you know, congregations
and communities, and that's uh, and that's really what what
(05:34):
we underscore as a general rule. And you you you
picked out a nice lesson, which is judging others favorably
means to try to find in effect and uh, the
points of commonality between you know the two of you,
and to and to recognize that that well meaning people
could have different opinions about the same manner. The world
is not nobody, you know, nobody's going to think exactly
(05:56):
like me, and everybody's entitled to think the way that
they think, and it doesn't take away from their from
their value as a human being or as a member
of our community, my family, a friend, et cetera. I
recommended that that this week, that uh, that now that
the election is over, it'd be a time when when
when we uh go out, you know, past our comfort
(06:16):
zone and maybe specifically be in touch with some of
the folks that that we know that didn't vote the
way that we voted and just try to be friendly
for sure, not to rub their noses in it, but
to be to be warm. Let's you know, the the
the politicians are going to speak in sort of general
terms about rebuilding our unity of our country and and
(06:37):
and that's all right and true. But we are the
people on the ground, and we can do that by
taking active steps to maintain or to rebuild or to
reinforce relationships of warmth and friendship and respect even with
people who are on the opposite side of political or
o from us.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Rabbi Leman is my guest. One of the things I
really like about this, Rabbi, and I don't know if
this is a feature or a bug, but I'm learning
more about the Jewish traditions behind all of this, because
it's all rooted in the Jewish traditions you taught. You
know that throughout there's little snippets. It's not proselytizing. I
don't want to make it sound like that, but it's
very interesting for someone of a different faith to have
(07:19):
a little window into some of the things that Jews believe.
And I think in this day and age, that's very useful.
You know, that's very productive in and of itself. Was
that also a reason you're doing this or was this
just a side effect?
Speaker 2 (07:36):
It's the lessons that are being taught in the daily
videos of Queen Speech Colorado are absolutely universal lessons. These
are things that should improve the lives of any member
of humanity that's interested, and they really can't. They're very,
very universal in their applicability and then the personal benefit
(07:56):
they'll all experience. Everyone knows what it's like to suffer
from an uncomfortable relationship or painful. Things that aren't going
well with a family member or a friend or a
colleague at work, you know, can be very very upsetting,
very debilitating, and so all of us will also readily
appreciate the benefits of being more adept at handling those relationships.
(08:19):
And fundamentally, relationships are conducted through speech, So when we
sensitize ourselves to the patterns of speech that we use,
we will automatically become more sensitized to each other and
to the relationship and improve the relationship. Can all do that?
Speaker 1 (08:35):
It is an excellent program. It takes two and a
half minutes, maybe three on the outside, if there's a
slightly longer one. Every single morning I put a link
on the blog so you can sign up and start
getting your emails tomorrow, and then next year you already
signed up, so you can just keep going with clean speech.
How many cities are doing a version of clean speech now, Rabbi.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
We're up to about a dozen different cities in Erica,
in Canada, and in the United Kingdom also so throughout
the English world, really all over the place.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
That is fantastic
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