Heidi Neumark

Recently I’ve been offered two questions that feel like gifts. The first came from a pastor who gave a talk at a conference I attended. In describing some of his innovative approaches to worship, he said that he opens Sunday services by inviting congregants to name a person or persons they’ve brought into the church with them that morning. As in: Whose spirit is with you today as you enter into worship? To whom are you particularly grateful or indebted?

This story was originally published in the Forward. Click here to get the Forward's free email newsletters delivered to your inbox. More than a year after the October 7 Hamas attack, most Jews in the US are broadly supportive of Israel but harshly critical of its leadership and prosecution of the war on Gaza, according to an Election Day exit poll released on Thursday, even as they expressed deep concerns about antisemitism related to protests against the war.

This essay is on a biblical text assigned for November 17, and I’m mindful that you may be reading it sometime after the November 5 election in the United States—though I can’t say for certain that the matter will be completely settled by then. If the very recent history of US elections and the rhetoric around this one are any indication, things will be very much up in the air.