Category: government

A Prayer for Our Country Before Election Day 2024

Our God and God of our ancestors, with hope and humility we approach Election Day, the day on which We the People will choose the individuals who will govern our nation, our states, and our communities.

You have abundantly blessed the United States of America with freedom, security, prosperity, and the right to democratic self-government.  You made it possible for the founders of our country to fulfill the command of Your Torah, to “proclaim liberty throughout the land, and unto all the inhabitants thereof.”

Daily we pray to You to restore our leaders as in former times.  On this Election Day, help us to remember that in America we are responsible for choosing our own leaders, and that the survival of our democracy, and the well-being of generations of Americans to come, depend upon the care we take in those choices.

Daily we pray to You for knowledge, discernment and wisdom.  On this Election Day grant us those blessings in full, so that we may consider our choices with knowledge and vote with discernment and wisdom, with the best interests of our country and our communities in mind.

Daily we pray to You to subdue the arrogant in our time.  On Election Day, and every day, help us to subdue the arrogance within ourselves.  Open our hearts and minds to consider the opinions of our fellow citizens, as we call upon them to consider ours.

Strengthen our will to fulfill our duties to our country and to one another.  To exercise our precious right to vote.  And to do all we can to ensure that every legal vote is counted, regardless of the candidate or party for whom it is cast.

May it be Your will that our decisions this Election Day preserve this country as a wellspring of liberty and a beacon of tolerance and democracy for the entire world.

And let us say Amen.

In order to form a more perfect union, the work must continue

 

We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

 

חזק ועמץ   Strength and Courage

Shabbat HaHatzbiyah- The Shabbat of the Vote

 

This is the Shabbat before our national elections.  Our tradition names certain of our Shabbats because of their significance.  As American Jews, this Shabbat is truly significant.  Our right to vote comes November 3.  This is our moment as citizens to have a voice.  Please Vote!

Shabbat Shalom

J’Accuse- Recuse!

Can you ask a Supreme Court judge to recuse him/herself from a case before the Court?

In this hyper-partisan age, the question seems particularly relevant.  During the Senate Judiciary Committee Hearings, Judge Kavanaugh defended himself with a zeal that arguably betrayed a mistrust and contempt of people including the Clintons and Democrats, in general, that would seem to bias any considerations of law that would involve them.

Arguably, Associate Justice Ginsberg might find herself in such a position as well given the intemperate comments she publicly made regarding Donald Trump.  Although she has apologized for these admittedly inappropriate remarks, she may have disqualified herself from any issues relating to Donald Trump that may come before the court.

The Supreme Court is a sacrosanct institution.  Sadly, the other two branches of government, the Executive and Legislative, are mired in political calculations.  The Court has been ostensibly above that.  It is political on some levels; the justices are nominated and confirmed by the President and Senate respectively, concepts of judicial activism and interpretation of the Constitution have worked within and often reflected the cultural milieu of the country.  Nominees to the Court are often subjected to litmus tests either during the nominating process or confirmation process, and both President and Senate hear the voices of potential voters as they make their inquiries and decisions.

As politics has become blatantly a part of the Judicial and Constitution review, one wonders what happens to the legitimacy of a Court with members biased not by an interpretation of the Constitution or moral conviction but biased by the harsh tribal political climate in which we currently live.   This question sadly needs to be asked and actually undermines the legitimacy of the Court.   The implications of what happens to our Democracy when this sacred institution falls is a frightening existential threat, not only to the Court but the very Republic it was conceived to serve.

 

 

What to do

In response to the horrible acts perpetrated by the American government, people are planning marches and demonstrations against United States Immigration Policy and the Trump Administration implementing said policy.  But there is a very important point to remember: Trump was elected President.  The members of Congress who actively support his policies, including this one, were also elected.  Only through our electoral system can we affect change.   Marches might feel good, but they are ineffective against those who hold and exercise raw unbridled power, using a politics of division to keep their minority base firmly in control.  To prevail in the fight we must wage, we must use politics to change those governing and the policies they pursue.

The wholesale assault on heretofore fundamental American principles of decency and values combined with the message of divisiveness rather than unity are the primary domestic issues giving license to the basest instincts of self-protection and self-promotion.  These are narrow and short-sighted attempts to impose the will of the stronger upon the weaker.  We must convince the American voting public that there is a better way.  And only through galvanizing the vote can our ideas triumph.

If we are to do anything of enduring value we should register people to vote and then make sure they do so.  People like James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, and John Lewis should be the great iconic figures that inspire us to action because never has there been so much at stake.

March and demonstrate, but do not be surprised if the sun rises tomorrow in the East and the Trump Administration continues its policies unabated and unaffected. For that alone will not create change.  Actively engage in the political process and perhaps our system of government will again offer a constructive message of hope.

 

 

 

 

The Fourth Estate is not Mar-a-Lago- The Sacred Duty of the Press

The Fourth Estate is not Mar-a-Lago, it is time for both sides to get back to work.

The Free Press has a sacred place in the American system of government. The Founders knew the profound responsibility they entrusted to the Press to use their powers as a supreme check and balance to the power of each branch of Government.   The First Amendment of our Bill of Rights guarantees that this voice is exercised to preserve, protect and defend our country from the corruption that power can bring. Whether the Press fulfills this responsibility, or that the work is appreciated is the open question.

The Press has not always lived up to its sacred obligation. History is replete with examples of the Press being used to support a particular opinion or even worse, smear something with which it does not agree. The phrase “Yellow Journalism” comes from the type of press with little or no legitimate research, with sensational headlines driven by the desire to sell newspapers. It dates back to 1895. The issues of fake news or headlines without legitimacy are not new and have been the nemesis of higher quality journalism has fought for a long time. It is also the scourge of government, undermining anything with which is does not agree, slinging mud and being dishonest by misinforming the public.

Hall of Mirrors

Journalism, the kind with higher purpose as envisioned by the Founders, has its legitimate mission to gather and report the facts as a means of checking government power. It is not the friend of government rather it often plays an adversarial role. That, however, is not grounds for government officials to cast aspersions on all the press. It is to be put those officials on notice that the people are watching and you officials are ultimately responsible to us. The recent hard work of the press corps in the matter of Michael Flynn should be viewed as an important step in protecting “We the People.”

Government of, by, and for the people is the extraordinary sacred mission our officials are tasked to do. Ensuring and preserving that is the sacred mission the Free Press. It is time for everyone to do his or her respective jobs.

People of Faith United against Terror, Where are you Mr. President?

The third wave of terror threats against JCCs has swept across our country to begin this week. This on the heels is the actual act of terror: setting a Mosque on fire. These are not idle pranks. These are coordinated attacks designed to create havoc and fear in the Jewish and Muslim Communities. This is Terrorism.

As scary as these terror attacks are, so is the lack of response by the President. Why hasn’t he spoken out against domestic terrorism and on behalf of the FBI and the Justice Department supporting a full-scale investigation?   Why hasn’t the White House publicly condemned these criminal acts of hate? Silence is the tacit acceptance that hatred of Jews and Muslims is sanctioned. A nation dedicated to freedom of religion must act to protect the exercise of that freedom when it is threatened.   The First Amendment is more than fancy words written on fancy paper in fancy script. It is the eloquent aspiration of a nation striving to a beacon to the world; it is the bedrock principle upon which that nation is built. If it is anything less, then it is not worth the paper it is written upon.

President Trump, I call upon you to publicly condemn these acts and actively voice support law enforcement’s efforts to find the perpetrators of these odious acts and bring them to justice.

We people of faith stand together, united in our American voice that ensures each of us can speak in our own particular way.   This solidarity is beautifully represented by Temple B’nai Israel giving its keys to the Victoria Islamic Center’s founders so that the Mosque’s people of faith have a home until they can rebuild and a public funding page dedicated to raising money to ensure that happens.