Dear Friends,
Yesterday there was an election in Newburgh for members of the school board. According to some reports, and anecdotal evidence at Kol which is a voting location for regular elections, turnout was extraordinarily… light. Unfortunately, most of us are not surprised. Participation in non-presidential elections, even in the off-year congressional elections, has been waning demonstrably in most years, and notably most recently.
What happened to that sacred duty of selecting our leaders? 300 years ago, in many a grassy common in Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania or Virginia, citizens gathered to debate and select their representatives, both dutifully and with a sacred sense of being the “elect” among their neighbors. That communitarianism has dissolved into politicization, conspiracy canards, and utilitarianism. Sacredness of the “elect” seems to have vanished altogether; just ask voters in George Santos’ district on Long Island.
But, it does appear, somewhat, in this week’s Torah portion. We commence reading the Book of Numbers this week, and as its English name implies, the Book begins with the charge to count the numbers of adult males in the Israelite tribes, so Moses and Aaron can plan for forthcoming battles during their remaining 39 years in the desert. They were charged to take a census, tribe by tribe, and to select key leaders from each tribe to assist. Upon designating those assistants, Torah indicated, “Those are the elected of the assembly, the chieftains of their ancestral tribes: they are the heads of the contingents of Israel.” (Numbers 1:16)
Essentially, the portion charges Moses to conduct a census, not a vote, but it does command an early plebiscite – a mechanism to generate delegated, representative management of the people. It required the people to submit information to their designated heads, to be reported back to the central leadership of Moses and Aaron. It was the commencement of what would be an Israelite tribal federation, somewhat akin to the colonial federation and post-revolution federation we enjoyed in America, until the Constitution was ratified in 1787. Meaningful, fair and efficient representative government has been the ideal, and the model, in both Torah and America, from the beginning of each.
Thus, our election, yesterday. Admittedly, data demonstrate that Jews vote in higher percentages than other subgroups in America. And, in Newburgh, where a beloved member of the Temple was on the ballot (and was elected to the one-year fulfillment seat), I would expect that our community participated more robustly in the sacred duty of elections.
But, nevertheless, participating in our representative government is not only an American ethic; it is commanded in Torah. Let’s not let it dissolve into the attitudes presently prevalent!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
Yesterday there was an election in Newburgh for members of the school board. According to some reports, and anecdotal evidence at Kol which is a voting location for regular elections, turnout was extraordinarily… light. Unfortunately, most of us are not surprised. Participation in non-presidential elections, even in the off-year congressional elections, has been waning demonstrably in most years, and notably most recently.
What happened to that sacred duty of selecting our leaders? 300 years ago, in many a grassy common in Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania or Virginia, citizens gathered to debate and select their representatives, both dutifully and with a sacred sense of being the “elect” among their neighbors. That communitarianism has dissolved into politicization, conspiracy canards, and utilitarianism. Sacredness of the “elect” seems to have vanished altogether; just ask voters in George Santos’ district on Long Island.
But, it does appear, somewhat, in this week’s Torah portion. We commence reading the Book of Numbers this week, and as its English name implies, the Book begins with the charge to count the numbers of adult males in the Israelite tribes, so Moses and Aaron can plan for forthcoming battles during their remaining 39 years in the desert. They were charged to take a census, tribe by tribe, and to select key leaders from each tribe to assist. Upon designating those assistants, Torah indicated, “Those are the elected of the assembly, the chieftains of their ancestral tribes: they are the heads of the contingents of Israel.” (Numbers 1:16)
Essentially, the portion charges Moses to conduct a census, not a vote, but it does command an early plebiscite – a mechanism to generate delegated, representative management of the people. It required the people to submit information to their designated heads, to be reported back to the central leadership of Moses and Aaron. It was the commencement of what would be an Israelite tribal federation, somewhat akin to the colonial federation and post-revolution federation we enjoyed in America, until the Constitution was ratified in 1787. Meaningful, fair and efficient representative government has been the ideal, and the model, in both Torah and America, from the beginning of each.
Thus, our election, yesterday. Admittedly, data demonstrate that Jews vote in higher percentages than other subgroups in America. And, in Newburgh, where a beloved member of the Temple was on the ballot (and was elected to the one-year fulfillment seat), I would expect that our community participated more robustly in the sacred duty of elections.
But, nevertheless, participating in our representative government is not only an American ethic; it is commanded in Torah. Let’s not let it dissolve into the attitudes presently prevalent!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
