JEWISH HOME LA

Dear Readers,

In the toxic partisan atmosphere that accompanies elections, it seems the only winner is the freedom to elect those candidates whom we choose. Millions of dollars are spent in advertising, door-to-door campaigners log many hours of home visits, each side predicting doomsday if the other side wins. But, ultimately, it’s up to millions of single ballets cast in the privacy of the voting booth.

What an amazing system.

The results? The results are that the system wins. Personally, I would have liked that more people aligned with the way I view issues were elected but, ultimately, it’s a system of checks and balances. Not allowing one party to rule is a healthy thing for the long term.

Let us hope that we can humanize—and perhaps even embrace—those whose politics might be different than ours but who otherwise work hard to lead a moral and productive life. They probably want 95% of the same things we want for our own families.

What happens in Washington is out of our hands. A betting person will probably put their money on calls of “treason” and “incompetence” on each side, but otherwise not much being done for the next few years.

What is in our hands? To continue to be G-d-fearing individuals who try to make each day better than the one prior, people who know that ultimately “lev milachim b’yad Hashem,” “the hearts of those in power is in the hands of the One above” who has His own plan in how this all plays out.

May it be in a way of revealed good for all moral, upstanding people.

Wishing you a wonderful Shabbos,

Shalom