Social Justice: Leadership and Philosophy

A truly free people accepts its covenants without coercion. As we work for a better world, one of true dignity and equality for all, it’s important to remember that.

Perhaps this midrash holds out a hope that any of us can be transformed to meet the needs of the moment. And perhaps we can find a way to change the course of today’s story so it does not have to end in wholesale destruction.

Community knowledge is the strongest tool we have, and we must learn how to both respect and harness it. When we seek to make change in the world, we must ask ourselves: Who might know what needs to happen even better than I do?

[Unders stress,] we are often functioning far from our cores, where we can access our unique strengths and talents, offer our best selves, and hear – and perhaps even seek – other voices.

How we love our neighbor is by fighting for a society in which we would be glad to live no matter how little privilege we had.

How can we take on our own “marking of the doorposts” for this moment? What am I prepared to do, or say, to help bring this cursed war to an end? How might I “mark” myself as someone committed to the collective liberation of Palestinians and Israelis?

The words we speak may soothe our spiritual and emotional wounds when spoken in kindness, but speech has the potential to “sicken” us, as individuals and as a society when spoken in malice.

I yearn to live in a generation where everyone, including our leaders, recognizes that leaders sin; where our leaders admit their mistakes, are held accountable, and where they actively make amends.

Only from an open and spacious heart can I experience a connection to what is holy. When I am focused on what I want and need, or when I am filled up with my own sense of righteousness, then what I have created within is actually a Golden Calf instead of my own small sanctuary.

We need each other’s lights. A friend, colleague, or ally — perhaps even those we consider adversaries — have the sacred potential to ignite in us the lamp of tamid consciousness and the willingness to widen our circles and give ourselves to the tasks of care, compassion, advocacy, and love.