Ignorance is Not Bliss

Ignorance is Not Bliss
Cantor Jenna Pearsall

Spring is here and in the spirit of the season’s themes of new beginnings and renewal, I wanted to share something that I’ve been keeping from you. I’ll reintroduce myself. My name is Jenna, and I am a Reality TV addict. Survivor, The Amazing Race, Big Brother, Love on the Spectrum, Top Chef, you name it, I probably spend an inordinate amount of time watching it. There’s just something about the raw emotion of real people, the unscripted drama, the organic arguments that arise when you’ve been stranded on an island for days without real food, the unexpected love stories–otherwise known in reality tv terms as a ‘showmance’. I’ve never been the type who unwinds by listening to educational podcasts, or reading philosophical books—I like to completely shut off my brain and for 90 minutes, immerse myself in someone else’s world. This in and of itself is a form of escapism, defined as a mental diversion from unpleasant aspects of daily life. I don’t want to speak for all of us, but I’m guessing I’m not alone. We all have had our moments when we fantasize about an escape–

From the day-to-day barrage of the news.

From the negativity.

From a world that sometimes feels too heavy to carry.

Another tv show that has been a welcome distraction and hot topic of conversation for some weeks now is Severance, which has been streamed over 6 billion times this season. Severance features the story of a man who has undergone a procedure to permanently separate his work consciousness from his personal one, intentionally choosing to allow his work self to be blissfully unaware of his own past personal trauma, including losing his wife. Watching this, I asked a friend: Why would anyone want to undergo this procedure? It felt so unrealistic. But the more I thought about it, the more I understood the appeal. Imagine being able to forget your deepest pain, just for a few hours a day, laying down any heavy burdens you’ve been carrying. I imagine a person might feel some relief by being able to flip a switch and poof, all hardship is forgotten.

Now I don’t think I would personally undergo severance if it was an actual procedure, but I began to think about the moments in my day when I choose to shut out the world and ignore challenges that might soon impact me. The moments when I scroll mindlessly to tune out the world or turn on a competitive cooking show. Am I intentionally severing myself from reality? Is the route I’ve chosen for myself by spending my time escaping from reality, turning off my brain, really the best option? Or was Fiyero from Wicked right when he sings life is painless for the brainless, and encourages us not to think too hard? As I prepared this drash I looked over at my sweet cat Wally sleeping peacefully on the couch and thought, “he’s so lucky, he doesn’t even know the stock market exists!” Is ignorance truly bliss? Thankfully, we can look to Judaism to give us our answer.

Our tradition doesn’t shy away from pain. In fact–it leans in. Intentional memory is a focal point not only for the holiday of Passover which we are currently observing, but for Yom Hashoah as well, which we will be observing in a few short days. During Passover, we craft intentional, embodied moments in which we remember our ancestors’ communal trauma, declaring it aloud and not shying away from the pain of what happened leading up to the Israelites’ liberation from oppression. We put ourselves in the Israelites’ shoes, eating what they ate and imagining what they went through not just as passive history, but as if it happened TO us. On Yom Hashoah, we will again intentionally remember pain. The stories of who survived the Holocaust, and the memory of those who didn’t. We don’t get to skip these stories, and we don’t look away. As Jews, we cannot afford to be numb, or avoidant, or intentionally ignorant of what is happening in the world that is the antithesis of humanity.

Last week, I had the opportunity to see the musical Cabaret on Broadway. Surprisingly, I went into it completely not knowing anything about the story. I didn’t want to give too much away in this drash but I realized it was written in 1966 so you’ll have to cut me some slack for spoiling the plot. The story follows a cabaret nightclub in Berlin in 1939. At the cabaret, life is beautiful. It’s a place for the rest of the world to fade away, a place of dance, drink, and song, but also ignorance, a place that stays safe…for now. In the background, the world is shifting. Anti-semitism and fascism creep into the club, and the characters' apathy and choice not to think too hard gives way to the takeover of Nazism. The message is loud and clear: intentional ignorance and political apathy has its dangers. A story from 1939, yet eerily relatable and relevant today as in just this week alone, Governor Shapiro of Pennsylvania had his home set ablaze in an act of Jewish hate, and people who are legally working and living here in the US are being deported without reason and without a way of return.

Today, tuning out the noise is dangerous. Even though it comes from a desire for self-preservation and protecting our mental health, intentional ignorance is a direct obstacle to our psychological well-being. Judaism teaches us that memory is not passive. It’s active. It’s sacred. It’s what leads to moral clarity and to action. So yes, turn off the news sometimes. Breathe, rest, watch your guilty pleasure TV show. But don’t sever your heart and mind from the pain of the world. Because forgetting is not an option. And remembering can be revolutionary. May the memories of those lost in the Shoah not just be a blessing, but a revolution.