Al Cheit for an Election Year

By RABBI JOSEPH H. PROUSER

Al Cheit…

For the sin which we have committed before You by political tribalism.

For the sin which we have committed before You by willingly entering news silos and echo chambers.

For the sin which we have committed before You by refusing to vote because there is no candidate with whom we agree about everything.

For the sin which we have committed before You by trafficking in insult and innuendo.

For the sin which we have committed before You by rewarding politicians for trafficking in insult and innuendo.

For the sin which we have committed before You by willfully lowering our moral standards to gain political advantage.

For the sin which we have committed before You by cynically pretending to piety to gain political advantage.

For the sin which we have committed before You by fomenting distrust in democracy.

For the sin we have committed before You by teaching children to ridicule and distrust political leaders.

For the sin which we have committed before You by creating an atmosphere in which good women and men are deterred from seeking public office.

For the sin which we have committed before You by convincing ourselves that things will never change.

     For all these sins, O God of forgiveness, forgive us, pardon us, show us a better way.

Rabbi Joseph H. Prouser is the rabbi of Temple Emanuel of North Jersey and the editor of “Masorti: The New Journal of Conservative Judaism.”