13 December 2019
As Jews we feel a deep responsibility to engage in elections. Many of us see voting as a primary obligation. This election has felt personal in ways that we can never have imagined. We have witnessed the ways in which it has torn people apart and brought them together over issues they hoped never would.
The topics of antisemitism, Brexit and racism among many others have come to the fore and it has scared and scarred many throughout the Jewish world and beyond. We have also been forced to search our souls and seek to vote in a way that recognises our values and our belief in a Prophetic call to Social Justice and engagement with the rights and needs of the many.
We enter today recognising the fractures in our society, we see the polarisation and divisions that exist and acknowledge that we are needed more than ever to be the place that can hold and nurture a multitude of voices and emotions.
We call now for us to be part of building the values of collaboration, equality, social justice and diversity. Let us use this moment to rebuild, to join together, to create more unity, to fight all forms of racism and discrimination, to think about the words we use and how we respond.