Two things have happened in recent days, quite different in their substance, that have led me to think once again about the quandary of the intellectual.

One has to do with the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, and the other the critical view of the Bible.

The first begins with what had been my displeasure at the annual celebration of Rabin. Since his assassination, the media turned him into a hero, father figure, and all else that was good, without blemish. He did have blemishes, no worse perhaps, but not much less than other figures who aspire to national leadership here or elsewhere.

Now I wonder about my displeasure.

The findings are that more than 45 percent of the religious Jews in Israel, and more than 25 percent of the general population do not believe that Yigal Amir killed him. There are conspiracy theories that explain away the film of the killing and Amir's recorded admission, with bravado, that he did it. See http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/123871 For those familiar with John Kennedy's assassination, all this may seem familiar.

The other issue comes from a meeting with a liberal American rabbi, as familiar as I with the critical literature about the stories in the Hebrew Bible. The rabbi acknowledges the lack of hard evidence about the Exodus and other heroic events, but is concerned that teaching them to the people would threaten their affinity to Judaism. The conversation reminded me about findings that numerous Catholic theologians view stories of the virgin birth and the resurrection not as historical fact, but as metaphors meant to portray the grandeurs of Christ and his teachings. Like my rabbinical friend, the theologians are are reluctant to teach the idea of metaphors to the faithful, or even to priests.

Common to both of these incidents are the intellectual's dilemmas. How broadly should we teach reality against myth? How insistent should we be that the mass of the population hear, or accept what we know?

Myth is useful. If a significant proportion of the Israeli public believes the fairy stories about Yigal Amir, then democracy and rationality may be in danger here. Perhaps we can strengthen democracy by propagating exaggerations about the character of Yitzhak Rabin as we emphasize the evil of assassination. If we believe that affinity to Jewish (and/or Catholic) communities and morals are important to social well being, perhaps we should not complain if clerics continue to teach mythic accounts about distant past.

As all you intellectuals know, dilemmas do not have simple answers.

Truth can be dangerous.