It is, of course, impossible to see intangible things. But sometimes an intangible thing is so vibrant, so pronounced and so real that it is as though it can actually be seen.
I had that experience. I was in Washington, D.C., for inaugural activities – and saw an intangible thing. This was enthusiasm.
I saw the beginning of this enthusiasm the moment President Donald Trump was elected. Many people I know – and many more I don’t – reached out to the administration (directly or indirectly) with a question: How can I help?
The people I know (and presumably those I don’t) are extraordinarily talented – and wanted to move to D.C., immediately, to work for free in whatever capacity where their skills could be most productively deployed. The broad-based coalition that drove Trump to victory, combined with the astonishingly good early appointments, fueled an outburst of ambitious idealism.
This ambitious idealism was essentially visible in the run-up to the inauguration. It was best captured by a visionary thinker and leader in healthcare policy I met at one of the events. He told me that he had been reading books on the New Deal – and explained that learning about the young men who flocked to Washington to work on President Franklin Roosevelt’s massively ambitious agenda was the best way for him to understand what was happening now.
This enthusiasm was especially marked by the contrast on the Democratic side. There seems to be no enthusiasm for anything there. I cannot think of a single policy, let alone a coherent set of policies, that the Democrats are enthusiastic about now – with the possible exception of abortion, which is now a state issue.
It is even hard to think of anything they are enthusiastically against now. On the day after Trump’s inauguration in 2017, half a million people came to Washington, D.C., for the ‘Women’s March.’ I wasn’t there this year on Jan 21 – but I did not see a single protest or even protester over the weekend.
Trump’s inaugural address, which articulated views and policies that animated his campaign, spoke of border enforcement, the deportation of illegal immigrants, the elimination of federal government DEI and the recognition that there are only two genders. Even very recently, the mention of any of these things from a Republican office holder was greeted with accusations of racism (even ‘systemic racism’), un-Americanism, transphobia and even comparisons to Nazis.
Now, seemingly nothing. Perhaps it is because many Democrats now at least appreciate the importance of a strong border, understand that DEI at least can encourage disabling victimization, lead to divisiveness and engender hatred itself, and that the policies from gender confusion can marginalize women and do lasting damage to children caught up in its mania.
Is enthusiasm, which of course is just a feeling, important? The answer to that question is – like the answer to pretty much all questions – in the Torah.
In early Exodus, God decides to directly enter history to liberate the Jews from Egyptian slavery and to show the world the truth of ethical monotheism. He could have done so in any way. Yet, he chooses to appear in a burning bush. Ten chapters later, he leads the Jews out of Egypt with a ‘pillar of fire.’
In Deuteronomy 9:3, Moses says we will be prepared to enter the Land when we know ‘that it is the Lord your God who passes before you as a consuming fire.’ In 1 Kings 18, God ‘answers by fire.’ And in Daniel 7, God’s throne is described as being ‘ablaze with flames.’
Why does the Author of the Torah want us to associate God with fire? The 19th-century sage Rabbi Sholom Dovber Schneerson (known as the Rebbe Rashab) explains that the persistent use of fire teaches us that the performance of righteous actions requires a flaming heart.
The rabbi said: ‘Between coldness and heresy stands an extremely thin wall.’ Performing the commandments with coldness will, the Rebbe Rashab teaches, lead us away from godliness and to the border with heresy.
John Wooden, properly named by the Sporting News as the greatest coach of all time, would have agreed. His UCLA basketball teams won 10 national championships, including seven in a row (1967-73).
What accounted for his astonishing success? There are many things – but it all starts with something that he began developing as a 24-year-old coach in 1934. This was his ‘Pyramid of Success.’ The elements of the pyramid changed over the years, but one thing didn’t. This was ‘Enthusiasm.’
Enthusiasm, as Coach Wooden knew, is the predicate to both inspiration and persistence – the twin qualities for significant achievement. The fact that the Democrats do not seem to be enthusiastically against Trump, his policies or appointees creates an opening for an enthusiasm they could share with Republicans. One possibility is health.
The Democratic enthusiasm for decreasing tobacco use resulted in an astonishing decline in cigarette smoking. They should receive all the credit for this life-saving public health achievement. This enthusiasm can be revived, and joined with that of RFK Jr and his acolytes to orient federal policy in line with the science of healthy eating and living.
The consequence for Americans, on that issue alone, would be enormously beneficial for the health of Americans – and another testament to the biblical imperative of enthusiasm.