My wife gave birth to a baby boy the day after the historic US election. I am blessed, in this western country, to cast my vote, according to my conscience, for the President. I am truly blessed to reside with my family and raise my children in a free country, in a free land. In keeping with my Jewish religion, we held today a great circumcision party for our new son, with dozens of family and friends.
My Jewish values from the Bible and Talmud (the Jewish ethics & law book) teach me to remember and share the sorrow of others around me who are suffering, to speak up about others who are being oppressed by evil rulers, even at this time of personal joy.
From Abraham to Moses, and beyond, all of our great Biblical leaders have refused to stand idly by while others were being oppressed or persecuted. The Torah commands, "lo ta'amod al dam re'echa," don't just stand there while your brother's blood is being spilled. We are enjoined, rather, to act out in protest whenever we see injustice afoot. This applies even where our enemies our concerned. For example, the Talmud instructs us to come to the aid of someone for whom we feel antipathy even before offering help to a friend.
