Just as poetry and prose are two separate languages, writes Adin Steinsaltz, each appropriate to certain situations, so there is a corresponding dichotomy between the poetic and legal aspects of religion—and a lack of balance between the two can be dangerous:

The language of science is precise and well-defined, while the language of poetry is open and boundless. One can discuss the same topic in both languages, but these will be two very different discussions. For instance, a man who wants to praise his beloved’s beautiful eyes will not say that they are about an inch in size and their color is 1523 Angstrom; he might use instead an expression like “your eyes are like doves.” This is surely a much less precise description, but one that gives great pleasure to the listener. On the other hand, woe to whoever uses poetic language when intending to mend shoes or build a bridge: the shoes will not be mended, and the bridge will not be a bridge. . . .

In Judaism, these two “languages” are called halakhah and aggadah. Halakhah defines and determines right and wrong, what is permitted and what is forbidden in all aspects of our lives, ideologies, intentions, and actions. Alongside halakhah there is the world of aggadah, which deals with ideas and theologies, with our will and the things we strive for in life, with poetry, imagination, and creativity. When it comes to content, there is no contradiction between these two worlds. Quite the contrary: their contents are the same. They only use different languages. . . .

Religious leaders worldwide ought to restrain the poetic vein of their sermons, because it opens uncontrollable floodgates and is liable to become truly destructive. And instead of an occasional, feeble bleat, Islamic religious leaders must vehemently and vigorously affirm that there are rules in Islam and that the extremists among them are actually breaking Islamic law.

Both languages exist because they are both needed, but only the balance between them will ensure existence and continuity. We, as Jews, are also called upon to stress this point: poetry and prayer must be given their proper place, while keeping in mind what can and should be done today and tomorrow.

While it is commendable that administrators of several universities finally called upon police to crack down on violent and disruptive anti-Israel protests, the actions they have taken may be insufficient. At Columbia, demonstrators reestablished their encampment on the main quad after it had been cleared by the police, and the university seems reluctant to use force again. The school also decided to hold classes remotely until the end of the semester. Such moves, whatever their merits, do nothing to fix the factors that allowed campuses to become hotbeds of pro-Hamas activism in the first place. The editors of National Review examine how things go to this point:

Since the 10/7 massacre, Columbia’s Jewish students have been forced to endure routine calls for their execution. It shouldn’t have taken the slaughter, rape, and brutalization of Israeli Jews to expose chants like “Globalize the intifada” and “Death to the Zionist state” as calls for violence, but the university refused to intervene on behalf of its besieged students. When an Israeli student was beaten with a stick outside Columbia’s library, it occasioned little soul-searching from faculty. Indeed, it served only as the impetus to establish an “Anti-Semitism Task Force,” which subsequently expressed “serious concerns” about the university’s commitment to enforcing its codes of conduct against anti-Semitic violators.

But little was done. Indeed, as late as last month the school served as host to speakers who praised the 10/7 attacks and even “hijacking airplanes” as “important tactics that the Palestinian resistance have engaged in.”

The school’s lackadaisical approach created a permission structure to menace and harass Jewish students, and that’s what happened. . . . Now is the time finally to do something about this kind of harassment and associated acts of trespass and disorder. Yale did the right thing when police cleared out an encampment [on Monday]. But Columbia remains a daily reminder of what happens when freaks and haters are allowed to impose their will on campus.