Keep politics off the pulpit

11/1/24

As Election Day approaches, I figured I’d share a few thoughts about politics. Or more accurately, a few thoughts why I won’t share any thoughts on politics.

One of the ways Chabad stands apart from other synagogues and institutions is that Chabad rabbis don’t speak politics. Not from the Synagogue pulpit, not from the email pulpit. Not conservative politics, not liberal politics. None. Nada. Who a Chabad rabbi votes for is usually anybody’s guess.

It’s not that we shy away from controversial issues or because we fear alienating people. Chabad is clear and unapologetic about what it believes when it comes to Halacha, Israel, or other Jewish issues. Running away from your principles to gain favor is never admirable.

But we don’t talk politics because politics is not what we’re selling. Politics is important. Critically important. But there’s a time and place for everything, and synagogues are not that space, and rabbis are not those providers—or shouldn’t be, at least.

When you walk into a Starbucks, you come for a coffee. When you walk into a drugstore, you come for your prescription. It would be a nightmare if the barista or pharmacist started lecturing you on climate or the right to own guns! I’d argue that synagogues and rabbis should be in a similar category.

While Judaism can inform political decisions, usually each side attempts to frame the Torah as a reflection of their politics. Unfortunately, however, Torah is neither democrat nor republican, and in some issues is more left wing and some more right wing. So from an objective standpoint, partisan domestic politics should usually stay out of the synagogue.

And I think one of the reasons Chabads around the country are so successful is because they appreciate that when people come into a synagogue, they’re entering a sacred space to learn Torah, to connect to G-d, to Jewish life, and to community. They are not coming for politics.

In this week’s Parsha, we read the story of Noah and the flood, where G-d commands Noah and his family to enter the Ark so that they survive the flood that would destroy the rest of the world. Bo el hateiva, G-d tells Noah—"enter into the ark.”

The great Baal Shem Tov, founder of Chassidism, noted that the word the Torah uses for “ark” has a second and much more common meaning. Teivah means “word” and refers to the words of learning and prayer.

G-d is teaching us, explains the Baal Shem Tov, that when the busyness of life surrounds us like a storm and we yearn for respite from everyday worries and concerns, we should “enter the teivah”—a sacred space of Torah learning or prayer. This, argues the Baal Shem Tov, will provide us with a moment of calm and sanity amid the flood outside.

Politics is like a mighty storm, tugging at us in all directions. But far away from all the noise, in a reality of its own, there sits an ark, elevated and serene, peacefully floating upon the turbulent waters. 

A place where people can learn Torah, pray, and connect to Jewish life in unity.

A place where people can disconnect from the world outside and connect to something deeper.

And when you’re in the business of building arks to protect people from floods, you’d better make sure that wild winds and torrential rain don’t enter the space.

Noah’s Ark is everybody’s Shul. It's our job to keep it dry.