Our pro-democracy work reflects that most Jewish of all frustrations – Not Yet. We can envision a future where the right to vote becomes unquestionable and enshrined in our constitution. “Not yet” implies that it is coming, that what we are working for is inevitable – we just have to get there.
In Genesis, promises are made to Abraham, but each promise ends with “not yet.” In Exodus and Deuteronomy too, we are told “not yet.” The world is imperfect and so are we, but we are called to believe in the possibility of change. Hope, in other words, is sacred and our social action work is a sacred act, a manifestation of hope. I leave you with this thought from Rabbi Jonathan Sacks:
Judaism is a sustained struggle against the world that is, in the name of the world that could be but is not yet.
[source: rabbisacks.org]
[October 5, 2022 – Pursue Justice Yom Kippur Study Session, From Anxiety to Agency]