The Zohar tells a story about Noah’s reaction when he came out of the ark. He saw the whole world destroyed before him and started to cry. “Master of the Universe,” he said, “you are called compassionate. You should have shown compassion for all of your creatures.”
“Foolish shepherd,” the Holy One responded. “You say this now, but not when I spoke to you tenderly saying, ‘Build Me an ark of gopher wood.’ I lingered and spoke to you at length so that you would ask mercy for the world. But as soon as you heard that you would be safe, you built the ark and saved yourself. And now that much of the world has been destroyed, you open your mouth to utter questions and pleas?”
It was the eve of destruction, and Noah didn’t say a word. And many of us wonder whether history is about to repeat itself. We wonder what would happen if we wake up the day after the election, only to discover that the forces of darkness have won. Ultimately, the answer is up to each of us. We need to vote our Jewish values. And we need to make sure that our friends and our family members vote theirs.
Judaism teaches that the greatest mitzvah is saving a life. As the election approaches, we need to ask ourselves: how many people died because the previous administration ignored the science about Covid? How many are dying today because of barbaric abortion laws? And how may will die next year if the law controlling insulin prices is repealed? Our duty is to save those lives, to build a world of kindness instead of a world of hate.
It’s easy to feel hopeless, to say that we Jews are a small minority, that I am only one person. But during the Babylonian exile – perhaps the darkest moment of Jewish history – Jeremiah taught that Jews in exile must do everything they can to help the civil government succeed. Voting – helping the civil government to succeed – has been a mitzvah for thousands of years. And Levi Yitzkak of Berdeshev, one of the early Chassidic masters, taught that it is a sin for a Jew to say, “My life is unimportant.”
The Torah begins with stories about people who try to escape responsibility. Adam and Eve tried to hide after their sin was discovered. Cain asked if he was his brother’s keeper. Noah blamed it all on God. But finally, there is one man who took responsibility. Abraham saw a group of men looking up at a burning castle. “Does the castle have no master?” one of them asked. “Why doesn’t he put it out?” And Abraham responded, The world is in flames. Does the world have no master? Why doesn’t he put out the fire?”
According to tradition, this was a moment when the entire world changed. God responded, “I am the master.” For the first time in history, there was a conversation between a human and the One who fills all of creation. But Rabbi Sacks ends the story differently. In his version, Abraham calls out to heaven, “Why doesn’t someone put out the fire?” And God answers, “Why don’t you put it our?” “Judaism,” teaches Rabbi Sacks, “is life’s call to responsibility.”
This is our job – to put out the fire, to bring justice into the world. And our vote is the most powerful tool that we have.
The rabbis taught that our lives were like an old fashioned scale, with all of our failings on one side and all of our good deeds on the other. One good deed can tip the scale and change our lives for ever. And so, too, they taught, the entire world is like a scale. The failings of the world are on one side, and our good deeds are on the other. So too, one good deed can change the world forever.
In a tight election, one vote can change the world forever. Go out and vote.