There’s been some controversy in our community lately surrounding some inflammatory writings that were put online and then removed. That’s as far as I’m going to go when it comes to talking about what happened specifically; it’s not a topic that I want to talk too much about because I don’t want to render any judgments on what happened. But it did get me thinking about the power of our written words, particularly because they can spread so quickly nowadays on the Internet–and I happen to use social media and the Internet pretty heavily, so it’s a topic that strikes a chord with me.
Let’s start at square one: freedom of speech. The First Amendment is so famous that I probably knew of it before I even knew what an amendment was! Basically, we have the legal power to say what we want to, to write our heart’s desire, and speak our minds. So let’s say I don’t like one of my teachers, God forbid. I can write out a whole essay and publish it in a book, right? After all, I can say what I’d like! Well, disregarding possible laws against libel and the like, for us as Jews there’s also a religious dimension. We’re commanded in the Torah not to speak Loshon Hara, to not speak badly of others. And we’re given many other laws moderating our speech and behavior in different ways; we’re held to a higher standard, expected to conduct ourselves in a way that doesn’t run the risk of infringing on others.
When I write, I always try to be conscious of my audience. My Facebook friend list, for instance, consists mostly of teenagers around my age and particularly from Ramaz, so photos of me on trips and funny jokes often strike a chord. (I also occasionally share the columns I write as well.) Meanwhile, the audience for the column and articles that I write for this paper reach a mainly adult Bergen County audience–not to say that teenagers and kids don’t read the Link as well. So I write in my own voice but try to give insight into my life in a way that’s understandable to people who wouldn’t get obscure, specific teenage/Ramaz lessons.
Lastly, I’m starting a blog with a friend of mine about New York City culture, and we’re hoping it’ll reach a wide audience. (It might just reach our Facebook friends and not too far beyond, but we can dream…) So we’re writing with a welcoming, general voice, revealing some but not too many details about ourselves, as if complete strangers from Uzbekistan could be reading it. In other words, it’s all about the audience.
And I think giving a thought to your audience is important when it comes to sharing both writing and thoughts in general. I’m not saying people should outright censor their writing. But writing shared publically does need to be moderated. Thinking about the audience that will be reading your writing allows you to realize if what you’re writing will captivate them or not, or on the flip side, if it will offend them or not. Obviously what you do with that realization is up to you; is your goal to rile people up or just to share your thoughts? If you don’t mean to cause a massive controversy, it’s worth finding a moderate way to share your thoughts, and to be careful where you share them as well.
On the other hand, even within the boundaries of Jewish law and moral ethics, it’s not a good idea to completely censor what you want to say. If we push ourselves back too much from saying something because we’re nervous about the reaction, we’ll never be able to change. Writing has tremendous power; it can influence others and change people’s opinions, as a force for better or for worse. Used the right way, it can make people think and make them strive to improve the world. That’s one of the reasons I love writing and journalism so much.
Once again, I don’t want to directly wade into the debate surrounding what happened online recently. The issues there are more complicated and I don’t want to disrespect anyone involved. However, this is how I feel about the right way to share writing, and I’m hoping I can keep using it as long as I keep pursuing my passion for the written word.
Oren Oppenheim, age 17, is a junior at Ramaz Upper School in Manhattan and lives in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. He spends his free time writing and reading, and hopes to become a published novelist. You can email him at [email protected].
By Oren Oppenheim
