By Cheryl Cook
BROOKLYN, New York –A few days ago, Donald Trump won the presidency by making promises to shape our world through racism, misogyny, homophobia, and attacks on immigrants, trans people, Jews, Muslims, and protestors, along with a continued denial of the climate crisis.
This is the dark vision the President-Elect has for the United States, and that darkness has, at times, felt all-encompassing.
But every week, we begin Shabbat by lighting candles, bringing light into the darkness and illuminating a world of possibilities beyond what is directly in front of us.
In just a few hours, I will light Shabbat candles with my family. I am heartened thinking about generations of our ancestors doing the same.
How many times did they light candles amid chaos, persecution, and autocratic rule? How many times did those candles offer a glimpse of a different, better world?
It is said that one purpose of Shabbat is to be a window to the world that could be amidst the world that is.
That is how I see our role in this moment—as individuals, as an organization, and as a wider Jewish justice movement. No matter what political conditions surround us, it is our sacred mission to continue to build Jewish communities and leaders who will work for true equity, justice, and democracy for all.
In short, we’re going to keep bringing light. We’re going to keep caring for the most vulnerable. We’re going to keep building connections across lines of difference. We’re going to keep teaching young American Jews how they can create a better world.
This is not the first time the politics of division and hate have cast a pall over our work, but we have our rituals, our courage, and each other to carry us through.
We are going to keep offering these glimpses of the world that could be, and work to kindle that world into being.
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Cheryl Cook is chief executive officer of Avodah, the Jewish Service Corps.
I agree with Dianna Rozenshteyn’s views and want to add a few points. New Zealand’s 3rd Jewish Prime Minister John Key endorsed Trump on the Friday before your election. He was Prime Minister during Trump’s first term. His Minister of Trade has spoken in a largely positive way that Trump’s 2nd term will have a small impact on our trade with the USA. The best benefit that happened was a large drop in fuel prices which is expected to happen again.
The Friends of Israel groups here have all shown support for Trump’s election. Only one of my many Jewish friends has expressed disappointment. Trump will stop China attacking Taiwan and we have just upgraded our defense arrangements with the Philippines because of China interfering with the island nation. That is good for New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Island Nations and American Samoa.
Trump’s family is interesting. I never saw any Harris family on the stage with her. We all know Trump has a Jewish son in law but not many people know that Tiffany’s husband and in laws are Lebanese. His Father-in-Law, wealthy Businessman Massad Boulos, went to Michigan to lobby the Arab Community to support Trump and they did support Him. Harris ran two adverts, one pro-Jewish in Pennsylvania and one pro-Arab In Michigan. The people in both states were not fooled by those adverts. They cost her votes. At Trump’s last rally in Grand Rapids, Trump had some family come on stage at end of the event. At his acceptance speech he had all his family, many friends and supporting staff behind him on stage as he spoke. Such a difference between him and Harris.
One last point: After the idiot comedian’s sick joke at Madison Square Garden, everybody in the world knows Puerto Rico has a rubbish problem. Thanks to Biden’s garbage comment from the White House, the world can breathe easy because you elected a strong Man as President
The author of this article accuses all Americans who voted for Trump, including Jewish voters, of being racists, misogynists, homophobic, and more. Such rhetoric, combined with depicting the country’s future as marked by “chaos, persecution, and autocratic rule,” is not only baseless and reprehensible but also counterproductive to fostering unity, especially among Jewish Americans with differing political views. This kind of slander and finger-pointing is divisive and unconstructive.
The Democratic Party did not lose the election due to Trump voters but rather because, in its current form, it stands for little beyond niche issues and is disconnected from the daily realities of average Americans.
I was unfamiliar with Avodah, the organization of which the author is CEO, so I researched it. Avodah is a social and racial justice organization. Their website can be found here: https://avodah.net/, and their Instagram page is: https://www.instagram.com/weareavodah/?hl=en. Notably, there is no mention of the events of October 7th on their Instagram page. The first post that even tangentially refers to that day appeared only on October 20th, and it does not mention “October 7th,” “Israel,” or “Jewish” explicitly. Additionally, there is no reference to the recent Amsterdam pogrom or any acknowledgment of the antisemitism and suffering experienced by Jewish people in Israel and the diaspora. The organization also fails to mention the hostages.
Avodah comes across as a fringe group similar to JVP, which does not reflect the views of the majority of the Jewish community. One has to question whether they genuinely care about the current plight of the Jewish community. With this in mind, I am appalled that such an organization was given a platform to publish an Op-Ed in our local Jewish community publication.
This garbage you’re spewing is the exact reason why the Democrats lost the election.
What a disappointing article to read. Feel like further fear mongering from the Harris camp. I disagree wholeheartedly. Trump just announced his Chief of Staff is female. This is historical as she is literally the first female in the position. Furthermore, I would argue that Trump has done more for Israel than any president before or after him. Trump is not perfect by any means. But he is a better option than Harris ever was, in my opinion.