It’s Friday and the U.S. Is Hurting Bad

On my social media feeds most Fridays, I post “It’s Friday, what have we learned this week?” It’s become oddly famous, having been quoted as a sort of best practice in a few books and online publications.

But I took a week off. Instead, I posted that in the past month, what we in America have learned is about violence and killings. Now, I don’t care about your political views, your views on gun control, your race, your gender or orientation. I don’t care what you think of President Obama, Senator Clinton or Donald Trump. Today, it doesn’t matter. One bit.

People were murdered because they were gay. People were murdered because they were police officers. People lost their lives because of the unequal way in which deadly force is sometimes applied by law enforcement.

The lessons as we go into Shabbat, the day of Shalom, completion and peace:

•  Life is holy.
• All humanity is created in God’s image.
• Every time a person is killed, it diminishes God’s presence.
• Every one of us. EVERY one of us must do something to make it stop and do something that adds holiness back into the country and the world.

May our commitments and actions lead us to a better world, speedily and in our days.

Shabbat Shalom.