Lech L’cha–Taking the First Steps

Yesterday, an Israeli friend of mine posted a photo of herself, her husband and her kids at JFK about to board a flight to Israel. She wasn’t going on vacation or to visit family. She was going to vote.

Some of you might not know this, but Israel does not allow the general public to vote by absentee ballot. That right is reserved for diplomats and their families. So Israelis living abroad who want to vote do it the only way they can: they fly home, at their own expense. These past couple days, my social media feed has been full of photos, families with suitcases and flags, heading to, or landing in Israel. 

Israel votes next Tuesday, October 27th. This is the most important Israeli election I can remember in my adult life. What’s at stake for them feels life-changing, and they know it. In a small country, people can feel the weight of a single vote.

The way Israeli elections work makes that belief even more striking. The Knesset has 120 seats, and a government needs at least 61 to be a majority. So the vote on Tuesday is only the beginning. After election day come weeks, sometimes months, of negotiation, with parties making deals to build a majority. It’s a long process of waiting–sometimes after making a huge effort to vote.

Here at home, we’re in election season too. The lawn signs, the television commercials, and your social media feeds have probably given it away. Now, I won’t tell you how to vote, but I will encourage you to vote. In the last presidential election, only around 57 percent of eligible Americans cast a ballot. That means around 90 million sat out the last election. Sometimes it feels like we can’t get people to cross the street to vote, much less cross the ocean. 

This week’s Torah portion begins with God saying to Avram, Lech lecha, “Go forth.” Avram has no guarantee that his journey will amount to anything. None of us do. But he goes anyway. And the promise that follows is that he and his progeny will become a blessing.

Avram didn’t know what his steps would lead to. Neither do my friends on those planes. But they go forth, with a hope and a dream–because they believe that they need to take those first few steps toward change.

I don’t know what the outcome of the Israeli election will be. But I do know that I’m awed by the commitment of my Israeli friends. And I often wonder how deeply we, as Americans, feel that same belief in ourselves: that our own steps, however small, can make a difference.

Wishing you a Shabbat of blessing and peace,

Cantor Melanie Cooperman

P.S. Here is the link to this week's Parshat explanation of Lech Lecha.