Election Update: Evening Thurs Nov 5

I pulled down the 12-year scotch that’s been awaiting this moment tonight for a week.

In moments, Joe Biden should take the lead in Georgia, and soon after in Pennsylvania making him almost certainly the President-Elect of the United States.

We’ve all been waiting for this moment for 48 months. Soak it up. Soak it in. YOU did this. YOU persisted. YOU spoke up. YOU woke up. YOU called. YOU spoke your truths. YOU cried in shock and horror, then picked yourself up and got going again. YOU texted. YOU turned the other cheek. YOU voted.

WE will need to move forward together. WE will again become the United States of America. It will not be easy. It will not be over. It will not be overnight.

But WE will do this, together.

Celebrate. But please don’t gloat.

In my faith, the only major piece of liturgy not written by a Jew is the first prayer many Jews sing to open a morning service. “Mah Tovu, Ohalechah Yaakov.” How beautiful is the tent of Jacob. Bala’am, an enemy of the Jews, was sent to curse the Israelites. Upon arrival, he seems the tent of Jacob open on all sides to welcome the stranger. Overcome with this powerful symbol of hospitality, Bala’am gasps “Mah Tovu, Ohalechah Yaakov.” How beautiful is the tent of Jacob.

Let us be like Jacob. Let us invite Bala’am through the power of our decency and our hospitality.