(I gave this sermon at Shabbat services at Temple Isaiah on Friday, July 25, 2025)
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On July 7, 2025, less than 3 weeks ago, the United States Internal Revenue Service announced a change as part of a filing in a legal case. Why, you might ask, would a rabbi choose to speak on an obscure subject like taxation law? Well, the change they announced means that religious leaders in the United States can now endorse political candidates publicly - to their congregants - without jeopardizing the congregation’s status as a tax-exempt nonprofit. Did any of you hear or read about this? It wasn’t a headline, but it’s an important change.
With this in mind, there are three questions I’d like for us to explore tonight:
First, whether it is legal or not, do you think clergy should endorse or oppose political candidates directly to their congregations?
Second, what steps can a religious community, like Temple Isaiah, take to hold itself together amidst a time of deep political divisions in our country and world?
And finally, what should be the role of politics in religion?
Practically speaking, I can assure you that none of the clergy at Isaiah will begin endorsing or opposing political candidates in our congregation in the weeks and months to come. The Reform Movement swiftly condemned the new IRS policy and urged all Reform clergy to “refrain from endorsing or opposing candidates in an official congregational capacity—both to maintain the principle of church-state separation that has protected both government and religion and to avoid dividing the congregation and alienating those supporting different parties or candidates.” (ACC/CCAR letter)
That said, this new ruling made me think about the difficult tightrope we clergy sometimes walk, balancing our prophetic and pastoral roles. In every community, clergy serve in both capacities - it is our role and our responsibility to lift up the prophetic voice - to be a moral voice, to speak truth to power, to speak powerfully and publicly about the ways in which Judaism and Jewish values speak to contemporary issues. At the same time, it is our role and our responsibility to be pastoral - to provide care, compassion, and comfort to every single member of our community. We want each person to feel heard, seen, and to know that their voice and their perspective matters. These two roles - prophetic and pastoral - are often in conflict. Raising a moral voice means alienating and angering those who disagree with any position we take. Leaning into the pastoral role angers those who want their clergy to take a stand, to stop equivocating or acting as if all perspectives are equally valid.
For every person who comes to synagogue wanting their rabbi to preach about a political topic or hear what the rabbi has to say about a particular issue of the day, there is another person who comes to synagogue wanting a respite from politics, who believes politics has no place in religion or on the bima, that prayer services should be a place in which we keep politics out. For every person who wants to see an email from Temple Isaiah supporting or condemning a particular position, there are those who think Isaiah should have taken the opposite position, and others who are upset about Isaiah sending that type of email at all.
No matter what we clergy say or do, there are those in our community who will think it is wrong. In the last few weeks, I’ve gotten emails and had meetings with folks who think Temple Isaiah and its clergy are way too far to the right, politically. I’ve gotten emails and had meetings with folks who think Temple Isaiah and its clergy are way too far to the left. In both American and Israeli politics, we will never be able to thread the needle in a way that satisfies all members of our community. Some people are angry that we aren’t supportive enough of Israel. Others are angry that we are too supportive of Israel and/or not supportive enough of Gazans. People who consider themselves conservative, moderate, or right-leaning feel that their voices are not welcome here. People who consider themselves liberal, progressive, or left-leaning, particularly when it comes to Israeli politics, feel that their voices are not welcome here. Many people have told me that based on what they read or hear from Temple Isaiah, they worry that they are alone in their views within the Isaiah community and wonder if this is the right community for them. Those worries come from people on both the right and the left.
My goal tonight is not to raise your pity or invoke sympathy for your clergy. We clergy navigate these complexities all the time. My goal is to raise this issue as a communal one. To emphasize that each one of us is responsible for creating the kind of community where different voices can be heard, where each of us can have our prophetic moments, and our pastoral moments. Where we can share our political views, and feel seen and heard by others. Where different political views can co-exist, and we don’t demonize those in our midst with opposing views. Where we can live together in a diverse community - with those on the right, and those on the left. With those who want politics front and center in their Judaism, and those who don’t.
Tonight is Rosh Hodesh Av, which means we are getting close to Tisha B’Av - the 9th of Av - the day in which we remember and mourn the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem (among many other tragedies throughout Jewish history). The destruction of the Second Temple in the year 70 CE was a major catastrophe for the Jewish people at the time. The Rabbis teach that one of the reasons the Temple was destroyed was because of sinat chinam - baseless hatred - among the Jewish people. The destruction came about not only because of external forces (the Romans literally destroyed the Temple), but also because of internal forces - the Jewish people tore themselves apart, thus destroying their community. The recent IRS change gives clergy an opening to further tear our communities apart by endorsing political candidates. However, we reject that opening. Instead, we strive to build a community where we do speak to contemporary political issues, but in a way that promotes respectful conversation and disagreement.
There is a concept in Judaism called machloket l’shem shamayim: Machloket - disagreement - is fundamental to Judaism, and the way we should argue or disagree with one another is l’shem shamayim - for the sake of heaven. Disagreement is encouraged in Jewish tradition. Judaism views disagreement as healthy and vital for a community. But disagreement should happen l’shem shamayim - for the sake of heaven - for the sake of the sacred, for the sake of improving our community by sharpening our minds and learning from one another. When machloket turns into deep division, when we cannot hear each other, when we cannot stand being in community with those who do not share our views, or with clergy who do not share our views - our community cannot stand. Let me say that again in another way: when we cannot stand being in community unless the community holds the same views as we do - our community cannot stand. Destruction is on its way.
We live in deeply troubling times. Anxiety, isolation and loneliness are at all-time highs. People are fearful, angry, and distrusting. Small things set us over the edge. It is a really hard time to live in the world right now.
And so it is not surprising that we don’t want to spend extra emotional effort to engage with views unlike our own. We don’t want to learn from those with whom we disagree. But that’s not the Jewish way. The Jewish way is machloket, machloket l’shem shamayim - argument for the sake of heaven. Hillel and Shammai. Rav and Shmuel. Abaye and Rava. Rabbi Yochanan and Resh Lakish. There have always been opposing viewpoints within Judaism and among Jewish leaders. Our tradition has thrived because for thousands of years, we have accepted - and celebrated! - that there are different ways to interpret Jewish teachings and values, different ways to apply Jewish values to the world around us.
The truth is, I am an educator at heart. To me, education is the center of life. We are here as humans to love and to learn. To grow with each new experience and each conversation we have throughout all stages of our lives. None of us is ever 100% right, about anything. We have a perspective that is shaped by our life experiences, but that’s never the full picture. Life is full of nuance and complexity, and our obligation is to be open to the possibility that we aren’t always right, that we can’t possibly see things from every angle.
As clergy, we may strive to be both prophetic and pastoral, but we are also educators. We provide texts and ideas and perspectives that you might not have heard, or not yet considered. We might share views we ourselves don’t like or agree with - but it can help you to think, to deepen and sharpen your mind. In the Talmud we are urged to learn with and from others: “As iron sharpens iron, so a person sharpens the mind of their friend.” (Proverbs 27:17 and Taanit 7a) There is value in being in a diverse community. Rather than being frustrated when others in the community - or the clergy of this community - do not share your views, I encourage you to see it as an opportunity to share your perspective and to learn from those who see things differently than you do. THAT is what community is all about. THAT is what Judaism is all about.
Back to one of our opening questions - what should be the role of politics in religion? According to AI, “Politics, at its core, is about how groups of people make decisions, especially in relation to power and governance. It encompasses the activities and processes associated with the exercise of power, the formation of rules and laws, and the management of society.” If we go with that definition, then politics is inherent in Judaism and you cannot take politics out of Jewish life. Jewish tradition has a lot to say about laws, power, governance, and justice. We clergy may never publicly endorse or oppose candidates, but we will certainly continue to speak about and teach about political matters. At the same time, I am confident that none of us wants politics to tear our community apart. Our political views - on American politics as well as Israeli politics - may vary, but we can still commit ourselves to the enterprise of building and nurturing a strong community. We can - and should and must - engage with political questions, in ways that keep our community intact. In fact, the Jewish community - Temple Isaiah - can be THE place where we can wrestle, where iron sharpens iron, where the love and support of fellow Jews and community members allows us to approach the most challenging issues of politics with Jewish values, including respect and understanding of those we disagree with.
In these days leading up to Tisha B’av, let us reflect on the ways in which we tend to segment ourselves into echo chambers and withdraw from community when others’ views don’t align with our own. May we push ourselves to be more comfortable with discomfort, to engage in makloket l’shem shamayim, to hold our community together through appreciation of diversity of viewpoints and view political differences as an opportunity to learn and grow.
