Many of Marci Shore’s observations about the power of words, particularly how language can infect public discourse and mislead societies, are brilliant in their precision. She is especially perceptive in describing how societies conform and bend to government power. Her observations draw on decades of academic research into totalitarianism, Eastern Europe and the post-Communist world.

I am basing these comments on Marci Shore’s recent appearance on CBC Radio One’s Ideas in the episode How New Fascism Operates. In the episode, Shore considers the Communist and post-Communist worlds alongside the current political climate in Canada and the United States, particularly during the Trump era, drawing on issues she has spent much of her career studying. Shore left Yale University after 19 years and began teaching at the University of Toronto in 2025.

I come to these questions from a different perspective.

I am a postwar, Hungarian-born Jew who grew up in Montreal, lived and worked in New York, became an American citizen and lived in Israel from 1965 to 1969 while attending Hebrew University. Since 2023, I have once again had a home there.

What I believe is missing from Professor Shore’s view of the current Trump era is a Jewish sensibility: an awareness of the Jewish canon and of the way history continues to shape the United States and the modern State of Israel, its people and its politics. I find this a significant omission.

Christianity and Islam have, at different points in history, laid claim to the inheritance of biblical Israel, but it is the Jewish people who have nurtured and maintained that tradition through a rigorous attachment to the study of their canonical texts. Jewish traditions, the Hebrew language and the connection to the Land of Israel have endured for more than 2,000 years.

I also see an important Jewish influence in American political thought. “In God We Trust” appears on U.S. currency. The language of inalienable rights in the Declaration of Independence, and the protections later enshrined in the Bill of Rights, reflect ideas about human dignity that I see as deeply connected to the Jewish biblical tradition, particularly the idea that human beings are created in the image of God and therefore possess inherent dignity.

The modern State of Israel is a remarkable expression of that continuity and, I believe, helps to explain why public discourse in Israel is so different. Public life in Israel is steeped in the understanding that we share a cultural heritage that continues to be expressed throughout our educational system, our army and our government. The weekly Sabbath and holidays such as Passover, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot all have their roots in the Torah, the Five Books of Moses.

One of the remarkable features of modern Israel is the continuing presence of Jewish texts and traditions in everyday life. The Five Books of Moses, the Prophets and the Writings, as well as the Mishnah and Talmud, remain living texts. They continue to be studied by young and old in schools, seminaries, homes and study groups, both in person and online.

This is not simply a matter of religious observance. These texts, along with the tradition of questioning, studying and debating our sources and traditions, continue to influence Israeli culture and public life.

I was especially aware of this during this year’s High Holiday period, between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, a time when Jewish tradition asks us to reflect on our past, both personal and communal, while also contemplating our personal and collective futures. This year, Rosh Hashanah began at sundown on September 11, and Yom Kippur began at sundown on September 20.

I believe this intellectual inheritance is one source of Israel’s extraordinary achievements in so many areas of human endeavour.

But the Jewish canon addresses not only Israel, but all humanity. A beautiful example of this could be heard in synagogues around the world only a few weeks ago. On August 29, 2026, the haftarah for Parashat Ki Tavo, the Sabbath synagogue reading from the Prophets, was Isaiah 60:1–22, the sixth of the seven haftarot of consolation.

Rabbi Maury Kelman of Or Chadash Synagogue described it this way:

“The sixth of the seven Haftarot of consolation soars with hope as the prophet Yeshayahu/Isaiah depicts the Jewish people returning to Jerusalem, followed by the nations of the world who will bring their wealth and unique goods to the Jewish people. These nations shall recognize the grievous sins of the past, in rejecting and attacking us, and pay homage to God and the Jewish people.

“The Haftarah finishes on a beautiful note, with Hashem’s tangible presence manifest throughout the world: ‘You shall not need the sun for light nor the moon’s brightness to illuminate you; rather God shall be an eternal light for you, and the Lord shall be your glory … for God shall be for you an eternal light, and the days of your mourning shall end.’”

For me, this is what needs to be added to any discussion of truth, political power and the forces that shape our societies. We cannot understand our current world without also understanding Israel and the Jewish texts and traditions that have influenced world civilization and continue to shape the State of Israel. They are not merely records of an ancient past. They must remain part of our very lively current conversation.