Our holy objects represent how we are bound to each other, and to something vaster than any one of us: when we don a tallis, its fringes remind us of the invisible ways we are joined together; the mezuzot on our doorposts symbolize God’s steady presence when we come home, and when we leave.
Read MoreIn Torah Study, we learned that the Sages link mitzvah, the word we usually translate as “commandment” with a similar sounding Aramaic word that means “to connect.” We discussed the many mitzvot designed to “connect” us with other people: comforting a mourner during shiva, welcoming newcomers, or visiting folks on the Skilled Nursing Floor; joining the morning minyan to support folks reciting Kaddish, coming to Torah study, or donating to the Scholarship Fund.
When we do these mitzvot, we connect – we reach beyond ourselves and become part of a “we”, a collective body of care and support.
Read MoreIn the headlines, we see someone coming closer to an elected seat of power than he should. Trump doesn’t exist alone, but within systems and values that have lifted him frighteningly close to the highest office in our nation. Trump’s campaign is, sometimes more explicitly than other times, fueled by misogyny, anthropocentrism, capitalism and white supremacy. These systems place folks like him very close to society’s centers of power. This is, in part, because we live in a society that values self-reliance, and competition and touts bootstrap stories as heroic.
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