On Election Day, I hugged a Republican

So I’ve been quiet lately, election-obsessed, but still trying to work out that ‘non-partisan’ thing in anticipation of becoming a rabbi.  No more need for coyness now.  If you’re my FB friend, you know who I supported (and if the rest of you should guess that my candidate’s name rhymes with ‘no drama,’ you would not be mistaken).

To my friends on the Left: no, I did not vote for Guantanamo or wiretapping or excessive compromises with Big Finance.  I voted for the coalition that put this president into office and which has gained more space in the national conversation.  To my friends on the Right: from where I sit, voting for expanded opportunity is voting for personal responsibility.  To my friends worried about Israel: what is it you don’t like, Iron Dome or the sanctions on Iran?  (Who cares how he and Bibi feel about each other?  They’re grown ass men with jobs to do.)

I agree with what the President said in his acceptance speech: “…this country only works when we accept certain obligations to one another and to future generations, so that the freedom which so many Americans have fought for and died for come with responsibilities as well as rights, and among those are love and charity and duty and patriotism. That’s what makes America great.” To me that understanding of community which involves responsibilities as well as rights echoes that which our Rabbis bequeathed us.

Also, I agree with those