Among the many things that it is incumbent upon us to be appreciative of are the rabbis that lead our communities, across the city, state and the entire country. Without these compassionate and wise leaders “of the flock” we would be pathetically lost in our life’s trajectory, nor would we have a stable spiritual guide to help us navigate the vicissitudes of everyday living.
As we approach the November presidential election, it has become increasingly apparent to us that the race we are now witnessing is the most consequential election in modern history. We are in the throes of a deadly pandemic, palpable racial strife, a burgeoning culture war and the explosion of anti-Semitism, and with no clear end in sight. Now is the time for your Jewish Voice to heard!
Our rabbis’ do not endorse any political party or candidate as many religious leaders of other faiths do, and we applaud their position of transcending politics. We’re only concerned that many Jewish citizens are not even registered to vote. Many Jews have never bothered to register in order to legally cast votes for candidates and for propositions on the ballots. Now is the time for your Jewish Voice to be heard!
They appeared to be content to let others make decisions for them that would impact them, their families’ and their communities’ future. We consider these actions dangerous to our communities and our causes. This must end and our collective Jewish Voice must be heard!
That’s why we’re calling on our rabbis, their synagogues’ officers and social leaders to urge their congregants and members to register to vote, so that our nation and the world can hear our Jewish Voice. We cannot remain out of the political picture. They have a right to use their Jewish Voice in the political arena.
When we look at churches and mosques, we see no lack of political partisanship. The likes of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, both ministers, don’t hold back from evidencing their political views during Sunday morning services on TV and during their public speaking engagements. They’re introduced as “The Reverend so and so” thereby entangling their religion with their comments.
We Jews have many social organizations, community centers and philanthropic agencies that can hold voter registration drives for their members to build up a Jewish voting bloc the likes of which Blacks, Latinos and Muslims already have. Their voices are bundled together to make their demands more powerful to the politicians. We’re envious of them because we have within us the power to make each individual Jewish Voice be heard.
It’s time we Jews start such a movement to organize the Jewish Voice as one that carries our message to those who make our laws and carry them out. Let it start with our rabbis who will make it their business to encourage their congregants to register, to become part of the election process, to let the public know that we have political clout and a strong Jewish Voice. Although we may have varying political viewpoints, support different political parties and candidates, we are Jews who need a Jewish Voice in the democratic process of elections. Let’s make use of the system by first registering to vote and then letting our collective Jewish Voice be heard on Election Day.
Register to vote by clicking on this link: https://www.ny.gov/services/register-vote
