Chazal charged chachamim to choose their words judiciously, but contemporary campus buzz seems to indicate that their instructions have been ignored of late. A speech by a RIETS Rosh Hayeshiva at last week's Yom Hazikaron event employed ill-advised diction that referred to Arabs as "Amalek." A recent article in The Forward profiled a rebbe in MTA who has allegedly allied himself with white supremacists and the Nation of Islam.

These positions, while perhaps defensible under the standard of free speech and pluralism waved by their critics, both within the student body and without, nevertheless lose all validity when espoused from a podium or the pages of a publication. No one should question the right of these rabbis to maintain opinions of their choosing. Responsibility compels us to call them on such public and extreme displays of these stances, however.

All opinions that contribute to public discourse are necessary and vital to a thriving University, but the tone and tenor of these expressions must be carefully tuned. Intemperate pronouncements and poorly chosen bedfellows do not contribute to the institution of free expression as much as they burn it to the ground with the flames of misplaced zeal.