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Progress Requires Balance, and Change Must Be Accompanied by Caution
A Torah scroll. Photo: RabbiSacks.org.
Let me introduce you to the Overton Window. It sounds like something out of a spy thriller, but it’s actually a brilliant way to understand how political and social change really happens. Named after Joseph P. Overton, a libertarian late 20th-century political scientist, the Overton Window explains how ideas go from being fringe and crazy to mainstream and acceptable.
Overton worked for the Mackinac Center, a right-wing think tank, and found himself constantly explaining to donors not just what think tanks do, but, more importantly, what they don’t do. Think tanks don’t directly push policies; they shift public opinion.
After hitting brick wall after brick wall, Overton came up with the concept of the “Window of Political Possibilities” to show that ideas have to pass through various stages before they’re ready to become policy, so they can be executed.
Here’s how it works: new, innovative ideas usually start off as “unthinkable,” in other words, way outside what society considers acceptable. If you bring them up in polite society, they’ll be laughed off as ridiculous. But slowly, through debate and exposure, and a little bit of savvy marketing, ideas shift through stages — they go from being unthinkable to being radical, and then acceptable, eventually becoming sensible, and then popular.
And eventually, with a good tailwind, they might even become policy. Once the ideas come in from the cold extremes of unthinkable and radical, they make it into the Overton Window of acceptable, sensible, and popular – the latter being at the very center of the window. That’s the Overton Window in action.
Of course, there’s a catch. When you push boundaries too far and too fast, society breaks down, and chaos ensues. Sometimes, trying to normalize extreme ideas doesn’t lead to progress; it leads to disorder.
History gives us plenty of examples. In the 1930s, radical nationalist ideas in Germany started small but quickly spiraled into the horrors of Nazism, when fringe ideas took over public discourse unchecked.
More recently, we see how efforts to push the boundaries on issues like transgender rights in sports — particularly in allowing biological males to compete in women’s events — have led to backlash and polarized reactions.
What might have been an opportunity for thoughtful dialogue instead ignited cultural conflict, with people on both sides of the debate digging in their heels. When society stretches too far without considering the consequences, it risks creating precisely the kind of disorder the Overton Window warns us about.
And if we look back, this isn’t a new concept. The Torah was already giving us cautionary tales about this thousands of years ago in Parshat Noach, with the stories of Noah’s generation and the Tower of Babel. Both narratives illustrate what happens when a society tries to force destructive ideas into the mainstream without limits. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t end well.
Let’s take Noah’s generation. This was a society that had lost all of its moral bearings. Violence, theft, and immorality became the everyday norm. They had stretched their Overton Window until “unthinkable” and “acceptable” practically swapped places.
What should have been fringe behaviors — theft, cruelty — were so normalized that the entire world was engulfed in corruption. It was as if they had collectively decided that moral boundaries were passé, something they could shrug off without consequence. The Torah describes it succinctly: “the Earth was filled with corruption” (Gen. 6:11). It wasn’t a society living on the edge; they had jumped off the cliff into the abyss.
And what happened? The flood. Total destruction. This wasn’t some random punishment; it was the inevitable result of a society where moral limits had completely evaporated. When the Overton Window stretches to a breaking point, society collapses in on itself.
Noah’s world shows us that without a foundation of shared moral norms, everything falls apart. If everyone does whatever they want, all the boundaries dissolve — and chaos reigns.
Then, we have the story of the Tower of Babel. After the flood, humanity regroups. Instead of learning from past mistakes, they double down on their ambition, deciding to build a tower that reaches the heavens. “Let’s make a name for ourselves,” they say, as if human greatness is something you can just declare into existence.
The Tower of Babel wasn’t just a tall building; it was a symbol of human overreach, an attempt to stretch the Overton Window into a realm where it no longer belonged.
The problem wasn’t their ambition; it was their arrogance. They wanted to control the heavens, to challenge the very order of creation. It’s as if they were saying, “we’ve conquered the Earth — now we’re coming for the Heavens.”
And God’s response? He scrambles their language and scatters them across the world. The project falls apart, and confusion reigns. They pushed too far, and the social fabric tore. Like an Overton Window stretched to fit something it was never meant to contain, their unity fractured into a thousand pieces.
So, what do these stories teach us? That boundaries exist for a reason. Pushing ideas and exploring new territory is all well and good, but not every boundary is meant to be broken. Stability comes from knowing when to say, “Enough.”
In Noah’s time, they ignored that wisdom and were swallowed by their own corruption. In Babel, they dismissed their limits and ended up fractured and scattered. Both stories warn us that when society tries to push extreme ideas into the mainstream, the results can be catastrophic.
It’s easy in today’s world to think that every new idea deserves a place in the public discourse and that every radical notion is progress just waiting to happen. But Parshat Noach reminds us otherwise. Not every fringe idea belongs in the Overton Window, and not every boundary should be blurred. Actual progress requires balance — moral progress without moral decay, ambition without arrogance, change with caution.
The Overton Window is a powerful tool for understanding how change happens, but it also shows us why restraint is essential. The lesson from Noah and Babel? When you push too far, you invite chaos. And sometimes, the wisest thing we can do is remember that some boundaries are there for a reason. Maybe it’s time we start paying attention to them.
The author is a rabbi in Beverly Hills California.
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Iran, US Task Experts to Design Framework for a Nuclear Deal, Tehran Says
Atomic symbol and USA and Iranian flags are seen in this illustration taken, September 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
Iran and the United States agreed on Saturday to task experts to start drawing up a framework for a potential nuclear deal, Iran’s foreign minister said, after a second round of talks following President Donald Trump’s threat of military action.
At their second indirect meeting in a week, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi negotiated for almost four hours in Rome with Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, through an Omani official who shuttled messages between them.
Trump, who abandoned a 2015 nuclear pact between Tehran and world powers during his first term in 2018, has threatened to attack Iran unless it reaches a new deal swiftly that would prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.
Iran, which says its nuclear program is peaceful, says it is willing to discuss limited curbs to its atomic work in return for lifting international sanctions.
Speaking on state TV after the talks, Araqchi described them as useful and conducted in a constructive atmosphere.
“We were able to make some progress on a number of principles and goals, and ultimately reached a better understanding,” he said.
“It was agreed that negotiations will continue and move into the next phase, in which expert-level meetings will begin on Wednesday in Oman. The experts will have the opportunity to start designing a framework for an agreement.”
The top negotiators would meet again in Oman next Saturday to “review the experts’ work and assess how closely it aligns with the principles of a potential agreement,” he added.
Echoing cautious comments last week from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, he added: “We cannot say for certain that we are optimistic. We are acting very cautiously. There is no reason either to be overly pessimistic.”
There was no immediate comment from the US side following the talks. Trump told reporters on Friday: “I’m for stopping Iran, very simply, from having a nuclear weapon. They can’t have a nuclear weapon. I want Iran to be great and prosperous and terrific.”
Washington’s ally Israel, which opposed the 2015 agreement with Iran that Trump abandoned in 2018, has not ruled out an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in the coming months, according to an Israeli official and two other people familiar with the matter.
Since 2019, Iran has breached and far surpassed the 2015 deal’s limits on its uranium enrichment, producing stocks far above what the West says is necessary for a civilian energy program.
A senior Iranian official, who described Iran’s negotiating position on condition of anonymity on Friday, listed its red lines as never agreeing to dismantle its uranium enriching centrifuges, halt enrichment altogether or reduce its enriched uranium stockpile below levels agreed in the 2015 deal.
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Hamas Says Fate of US-Israeli Hostage Unknown After Guard Killed in Israel Strike
Varda Ben Baruch, the grandmother of Edan Alexander, 19, an Israeli army volunteer kidnapped by Hamas, attends a special Kabbalat Shabbat ceremony with families of other hostages, in Herzliya, Israel October 27, 2023 REUTERS/Kuba Stezycki
Hamas said on Saturday the fate of an Israeli dual national soldier believed to be the last US citizen held alive in Gaza was unknown, after the body of one of the guards who had been holding him was found killed by an Israeli strike.
A month after Israel abandoned the ceasefire with the resumption of intensive strikes across the breadth of Gaza, Israel was intensifying its attacks.
President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff said in March that freeing Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old New Jersey native who was serving in the Israeli army when he was captured during the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks that precipitated the war, was a “top priority.” His release was at the center of talks held between Hamas leaders and US negotiator Adam Boehler last month.
Hamas had said on Tuesday that it had lost contact with the militants holding Alexander after their location was hit in an Israeli attack. On Saturday it said the body of one of the guards had been recovered.
“The fate of the prisoner and the rest of the captors remains unknown,” said Hamas armed wing Al-Qassam Brigades’ spokesperson Abu Ubaida.
“We are trying to protect all the hostages and preserve their lives … but their lives are in danger because of the criminal bombings by the enemy’s army,” Abu Ubaida said.
The Israeli military did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Hamas released 38 hostages under the ceasefire that began on January 19. Fifty-nine are still believed to be held in Gaza, fewer than half of them still alive.
Israel put Gaza under a total blockade in March and restarted its assault on March 18 after talks failed to extend the ceasefire. Hamas says it will free remaining hostages only under an agreement that permanently ends the war; Israel says it will agree only to a temporary pause.
On Friday, the Israeli military said it hit about 40 targets across the enclave over the past day. The military on Saturday announced that a 35-year-old soldier had died in combat in Gaza.
NETANYAHU STATEMENT
Late on Thursday Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas’ Gaza chief, said the movement was willing to swap all remaining 59 hostages for Palestinians jailed in Israel in return for an end to the war and reconstruction of Gaza.
He dismissed an Israeli offer, which includes a demand that Hamas lay down its arms, as imposing “impossible conditions.”
Israel has not responded formally to Al-Hayya’s comments, but ministers have said repeatedly that Hamas must be disarmed completely and can play no role in the future governance of Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to give a statement later on Saturday.
Hamas on Saturday also released an undated and edited video of Israeli hostage Elkana Bohbot. Hamas has released several videos over the course of the war of hostages begging to be released. Israeli officials have dismissed past videos as propaganda.
After the video was released, Bohbot’s family said in a statement that they were “deeply shocked and devastated,” and expressed concern for his mental and physical condition.
“How much longer will he be expected to wait and ‘stay strong’?” the family asked, urging for all of the 59 hostages who are still held in Gaza to be brought home.
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Oman’s Sultan to Meet Putin in Moscow After Iran-US Talks
FILE PHOTO: Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said gives a speech after being sworn in before the royal family council in Muscat, Oman January 11, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Sultan Al Hasani/File Photo
Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said is set to visit Moscow on Monday, days after the start of a round of Muscat-mediated nuclear talks between the US and Iran.
The sultan will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the Kremlin said.
Iran and the US started a new round of nuclear talks in Rome on Saturday to resolve their decades-long standoff over Tehran’s atomic aims, under the shadow of President Donald Trump’s threat to unleash military action if diplomacy fails.
Ahead of Saturday’s talks, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow. Following the meeting, Lavrov said Russia was “ready to assist, mediate and play any role that will be beneficial to Iran and the USA.”
Moscow has played a role in Iran’s nuclear negotiations in the past as a veto-wielding U.N. Security Council member and signatory to an earlier deal that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.
The sultan’s meetings in Moscow visit will focus on cooperation on regional and global issues, the Omani state news agency and the Kremlin said, without providing further detail.
The two leaders are also expected to discuss trade and economic ties, the Kremlin added.
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