Progressively Speaking: How should we react to Trump’s election win?
Rabbi Charley Baginsky reflects on the challenges to progressive Jews posed by the president-elect
As you may expect from a London-based Liberal rabbi, I live in a sheltered community – on and offline – where the majority of people seem to have voted neither for Brexit or Donald Trump. It’s a world of liberal, and Liberal Jewish, values.
Yet last week I awoke to the news that someone who shares none of those values has become president of the USA. Shock, upset and distress overflows on my social media platforms, interspersed with joy from the few Trump supporters on my feed.
But this was an election where millions of voters turned out. Analysis of Trump’s victory will go on for months if not years. But, as with Brexit, we can see that large swathes of people rejected the political establishments and economic systems.
There is, as we saw in Britain, a public anger that has led to people voting in ways which for many was shock at best and disgust at worst. The question for many of us is what next? Trump was democratically elected. Whatever our feelings, the time has come to be part of helping to rebuild a divided and fractured world.
As my colleague Rabbi Alexandra Wright so wisely said recently: “Now is not the time to either abandon our liberalism, nor our Judaism.”
While we honour the outcome of the election, we must once again stand by our values to fight bigotry, campaign for the rights of minorities and not stand silently by words and actions driven by hate and fear.
But most of all we must model ways of talking to each other from a place of care and love, a place that embraces diversity and differing opinions and a place that believes this world can be full of hope and unity. As it says in Psalms 133: “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers and sisters to dwell together in unity.”
I was brought up with the Jewish value of engaging in discussion to understand and be understood. This is the world I want for my children, one where we offer solutions to improve the lives of all and not one that tries to create division and fear.
Rabbi Charley Baginsky is Liberal Judaism’s director of strategy and partnerships
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
