Voting Is a Pathway To Justice

Shalom Chevrei:

I am pleased to report that I received my mail-in-ballot, filled it out, and turned it in. Each of the voters in my family, which includes my wife Betsy, our 18-year old daughter Cara, and me, decided not to send the completed ballots by post. Instead, Betsy and I put our masks on and drove downtown to the Loop Super Site at Clark and Lake (191 N. Clark St). There we put our ballots in a safe and secure ballot box. The volunteer, who greeted me, pointed out the container, I placed the ballot inside, and that was that. We had no wait. Super Site - Super Easy! Later that week we heard by email that our ballots were received and processed. Whew! It feels especially good to have fulfilled this critically important civic responsibility.

Voting is essential to giving voice to our greatest needs and desires as Americans. Voting is a key mechanism for change. Voting is at the heart of our democracy, and voting is a pathway to justice and protecting the marginalized and unfairly burdened.

Speaking of fairness, I’m also happy to report that I fulfilled my Fair Tax pledge to one of our key justice partners, the Jewish Council of Urban Affairs. If you’d like to learn more about JCUA’s Fair Tax Pledge and the Fair Tax initiative, please go to: https://jcua.org/our-work/campaigns/fair-tax-2020/

Suffice it to say here, our prophet Isaiah rails against those who would deprive the poor of justice and deny the rights of those in need. (Is. 10:2) In this enduring spirit, a fair tax system would protect the vulnerable by simply demanding that people pay their fair share - that those who can pay more taxes don’t underpay; and that those disproportionately burdened - like people of color and the poor - don’t overpay. Fair and effective taxation can go a long way in balancing out the burdens that we carry to serve, improve, and heal our society.

Make it a day of blessing, be a force for good, and stay in the fight!!

And VOTE!! And if you have already, kol ha-kavod, all my respect!

Zei gezunt:

Rabbi Craig Marantz