To listen to the left or the right, a picture is painted of a country in crisis and only they have the solution.
I do believe we are in crisis. I believe that who we are existentially as a nation is being decided with this coming election. And I do believe that both parties — Democrat and Republican — have plans to address the issues as they see it.
So, the question is: which way do we vote? Republican or Democrat?
For some, who are single-issue voters, the answer may be simple. However, for many of us, we base our voting patterns on a different premise. We ask: what should my Jewish vote be?
I have thought about this question over the course of many election cycles. I have read and listened to commentaries and pundits. And I believe it comes down to looking at our tradition and seeing what it says.
There is one phrase that is repeated and repeated in Torah. More than three dozen times the Torah reminds us, “for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” And we go on to learn that our job is to protect the widow, the orphan, the stranger in our midst ... in other words, everyone who is “other” than us.
What does loving (or protecting) the stranger have to do with the elections? Simply, everything.
Looking through the lens of loving/caring/protecting the stranger, we can ask: What is our responsibility as a country in addressing the coronavirus pandemic both at home and abroad? What is our role in peacekeeping across the globe? What should we do regarding the climate? Hunger? Homelessness? Health care? Immigration?
We know that how we act and react to each one of these concerns forms the basis of who we are as a nation. And while we are not a Jewish nation, and neither political party has an obligation to look at these issues through the lens of Torah, we — you and I — are Jewish and our tradition demands that we act based on our own history, that we create a community that does love/care/protect the stranger in our midst.
I want to be very clear. I believe that both the Republican and Democratic parties, their presidential, congressional, and down-ballot representatives would claim to wear the mantle of our Torah imperative. The question is which of these parties — and which of these candidates — can best bring to fruition the demand to “love your neighbor as yourself?” (Which requires two parts — loving/protecting ourselves AND our neighbors ... including those who are “other” than us.)
That is where each of us comes in. We are obligated to vote our values. We may have already decided which candidates best fulfill them and some may have already voted. But if not, take a moment and reflect: What are my Jewish values? How can they be best lived by every person within this country? Which candidate can best fulfill those values in the coming years?
What I hope is that we have the largest turnout in U.S. election history and that whoever wins does so by such an overwhelming majority there can be no doubt as to which direction into which we want this country to head. To be stuck with uncertainty and an inability to pivot one way or the others will be worse than either political alternative.
It is said that one of the gravest sins is to not act, to not participate in the community. I pray that each of us votes in the coming weeks — either by mail, early walk-in voting, or on Nov. 3. Let us be a part of determining the soul of this country, using our Jewish values to guide us in our voting ... and not setting ourselves apart.
Rabbi Arthur Nemitoff is senior rabbi of The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah. This article, as edited by the Chronicle with permission of the author, originally appeared in the congregation’s weekly Bisseleh Bytes e-newsletter.
