"The Best Kind of Action is Social Action"

I've just arrived in Washington, DC with some of my Confirmation students to participate in L'Taken, the youth lobbying conference of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. Over the course of the next four days, my students will learn about issues of social justice from a Jewish perspective, worship with hundreds of other teens from across the United States, and on Monday, they will be lobbying their U.S. Senators and Representatives on issues that are important to them.

This week's Torah portion, Mishpatim, outlines a whole host of laws about the ways in which we interact with one another. We learn about the laws of theft and of lost property and of our obligation to the weakest members of our societies. One of my favorite pieces in the text is Exodus 23:4-5, where Torah teaches us, "When you encounter your enemy's ox or ass wandering, you must take it back to him. When you see the ass of your enemy lying under its burden and would refrain from raising it, you must nevertheless raise it with him."

The text doesn't just tell us to return lost property, but it reminds us to return the lost property of our enemies. It doesn't tell us to do things for others, lifting their animals under their burdens, but to lift it with our enemies. There are many times when we don't see eye to eye with others, where we see them as enemies and are threatened by them, either in reality or in perception. What Torah teaches us in this moment is that when we engage with our enemies, however hard that might be, we create real opportunities for dialogue and maybe even friendship.

Over the next four days, my students will wrestle with difficult issues of social justice. They will challenge themselves in what they know about the world and their power to bring about change. They will turn their learning and reflection into action on Monday and actually make real steps to make the world a better place. At the same time, half way around the world, Egypt is in turmoil. We may view Egypt as a friend - of Israel, of the United States - and we may fear that what lies ahead may make an enemy of our friend. However the turmoil in Egypt resolves itself, we must remind ourselves to continue to engage with one another because without communication there can be no relationship. And without relationship there can be no peace.