America is suffering from a cultural Alzheimer’s. An ancient Jewish ritual—the Passover seder—may hold the cure.
Last year, more than 7 in 10 Americans failed the basic civic literacy quiz administered annually by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. Even among college students, knowledge of basic facts about American history and civics is shockingly low. The results of a recent survey by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni were so distressingly poor that they titled their corresponding report: “Losing America’s Memory.”
This goes beyond knowledge of mere trivia. What’s at stake is our very identity and purpose as Americans. In his classic work “After Virtue,” Alasdair MacIntyre wrote: “I can only answer the question ‘What am I do to?’ if I can answer the prior question ‘Of what story or stories do I find myself a…
