The Kedusha / Holiness of the U.S. Elections

Before sharing my thoughts, allow me to introduce myself: I am a proud registered Independent voter in the United States. Because the state of Florida denies the right to vote in primaries to anyone who is not registered with a political party, my voter registration history shows, at different times, that I am a Republican and a Democrat, depending on the year. And as soon as I leave the polling place, I re-register as an Independent. Which is what I really am. An Independent. Politically and in many ways. There, now you know that.

So if I don’t religiously (so to speak) vote for a party, what or who DO I vote for? It’s a complicated formula that includes a candidate’s leadership experience, personal and professional integrity, my perception of his/her ability to work with those who don’t share his/her views. And somewhere down the list is the candidate’s stated views on the issues, but it’s not at the very top of my list because unless they have my other criteria, their views aren’t going to matter much. And because, once they’re elected, their views can change or have to be compromised.

I believe that choosing leadership is a holy task. I didn’t make up that belief: Torah and books of the Prophets are full of ways in which leaders were chosen: Like a burning bush or how the person did as a shepherd. Voting is our way. And in my opinion, it’s holy also.

Elections and the campaigns leading up to them give candidates as well as citizenry the opportunity to display the holiness that the process should project, or to drag everyone into the mud, detracting from the holiness of the choice and the calling to which elected officials should answer.

As I write this, I’m observing the worst behavior. Candidates literally name calling opponents. Insults being hurled. Accusations flying. But not just the candidates. Supporters, too. And my fellow Jews have begun to engage in some very un-Torah-like behavior. Throwing charges of antisemitism that have no basis in reality. Comparing candidates to Hitler or to the biblical, murderous nation of Amalek. Demanding that their fellow Jews “must” vote for one candidate or another, as if somehow they missed the class in which it is the very diversity of the Jewish people and their beliefs that have defined us forever. And it totally misses the point of the power of words to move people in the wrong direction, as if they forgot that someone just tried to assassinate a presidential candidate. And it shows that some of my Jewish brothers and sisters forgot that an Israeli prime minister (and war hero) was murdered as a direct result of the words that were being hurled at him.

So, a modest proposal: The upcoming elections are critically important to the future of the U.S., and to the future of the world. The leaders we choose have the challenging, and, yes, holy work of leading this country in times of great danger and world upheaval. Which makes our work equally challenging and holy.

I pray that everyone – from the candidates, to the voters, to my fellow Jews (most of whom are voters, many of whom are candidates) – rises to the occasion and to facing the crossroads in history in which we find ourselves. May everyone move away from the destructive impulses and towards the realization of the responsibilities that the electoral process demands of us.

And may we act and choose wisely.