It’s not Politics. It’s Morality. And Life.
Occasionally we talk in synagogue about spicy topics in which folks have a difference of opinions. We hold the space for slightly uncomfortable discussions. And not everyone likes when I frame things in this manner. Over the course of my 19 year career, folks have sometimes said “I don’t like it when the rabbi talks politics from the bimah”. (Yes, I know you all think I’m so young! Take a look at my beard, though, and you’ll notice there’s a lot of grey in there.)
And it’s true that politics doesn’t belong on the bimah. Candidates for office should vye for your vote without using the sensitive and personal heartstrings of religion to influence you. Rabbis and pastors should not become shills for a current politician with promises that might, for the moment, align with what a faith teaches.
But morals belong on the bimah. And life belongs on the bimah. Otherwise, it’s just empty words.
Our tradition asks us, over and over and over again, to be moral, just, and compassionate. “Care for the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow.” “Every person was created in the image of God.” “Do not pervert justice.” “Justice, justice shall you pursue.” “Love your neighbor as yourself.” “Open, open your hand to the needy.” “The life of a mother precedes the life of her unborn fetus.” Lift up the poor and set free the captive.” “May the One who makes peace in heavens make peace on earth.” “We must build a world of lovingkindness.” “Do not oppress the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” These are core tenets of our religion.
And so when we talk in synagogue about our morals, and about life: about immigrant expulsion; about protecting and affirming Trans, Lesbian, and Gay individuals; about health care for low-income folks; about women’s right to bodily autonomy; about war in Gaza ; about the priority of freeing hostages; about income inequality or tax policy for the rich; about the importance of education and libraries and universities; about free speech and freedom or religion; we are speaking Torah. We are affirming the 5,000 year old values of our people.
And so if it just so happens that the morals and values we affirm in our synagogues run counter to the things that politicians say or push through the legislative or executive branch, oh well. We cannot – we should not – we will not – apologize for practicing our beliefs, while individuals with primary motives of self-interest espouse other, anti-religious anti-morality. When some pundit proclaims the words of compassion and justice uttered by a brilliant spiritual leader like Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde are ‘woke’, we should just chuckle and shake our heads.
Go ahead. Call us ‘woke’. I assure you, in the long history of our people, we have certainly been called much worse – and primarily because we have always been a voice for right and humanity in times when those principles were decidedly unpopular.
So if we talk about current events and the politics of the day at synagogue over the coming months and years, and we will, keep your focus. Our religion compels us to consider others needs before our own in a dozen specific and critical ways. Just because the political winds are blowing in a different direction doesn’t mean we will grow mute in the face of injustice and immorality.
Our God is just and compassionate. Torah is our focus. Nothing can or should convince us otherwise.
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