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The philosopher Henrich Heine wrote, “Never underestimate the power of ideas. Philosophical concepts nurtured in the stillness of a professor’s study could destroy a civilization.”
Spanning the course of four decades, I have been a political activist for Israel and the Jewish people, centering most of my work on Capitol Hill. Over time, I have watched how ideas shaped in the college classroom have gradually and incrementally made their way into the corridors of power.
When I first began political activism in the 1980s, the memory of the Holocaust was still fresh, and members of both parties would line up to meet with the group I was then affiliated with.
I remember how the late Senator Daniel Inouye (D – Hawaii) spoke, his voice laden with emotion, of what he saw as a young Army officer, when he first entered the concentration camps. That vivid memory made him into a life-long Zionist.
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