This MLK Day, we can honor the legacy of Dr. King and fight back against white supremacy and systemic racism by urging Congress to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

This is a moment that requires extraordinary courage to do the hardest and most transformative social change work. It is for all Americans of conscience to build a more just and compassionate future by facing the truth of our history and our present.

Before the start of Shabbat, the Reform Jewish community hosted a live webinar, "Healing, Hope, Action: A Reform Movement Pre-Shabbat Gathering," sharing a Jewish framing for what we’re experiencing communally and as a country.

Democracy is, indeed, a promise we renew not just on election day, but every day. Democracy does not exist independent of our contributions to it. Citizens and immigrants, voters, and presidents – all of us build democracy.

What we saw Wednesday was not just an unprecedented assault on the U.S. Capitol but on our constitutional democracy and the values we as Reform Jews – and Americans of all faiths and cultural backgrounds – hold so dear.

Democracy doesn’t happen every four years at the ballot box; democracy needs to be affirmed daily by each of us. That happens when we commit to engaging with one another, rather than tuning each other out.

So while we don’t yet know which candidate won the White House or which party will control the Senate, we do know this: Democracy is strongest when every voice is heard. State officials must take – and be allowed – the time they need to count every vote.

Just as the Torah is at the center of Judaism, the ballot is at the core of our democracy. We would not dream of returning the Torah to the Ark without first dressing it. It helps, then, to think of the outer envelope as the ark and the inner security envelope as our ballot’s Torah cover.

The Reform Movement supports a COVID-19 relief bill that will alleviate economic hardship, which puts tens of millions of Americans at risk of eviction and homelessness.