Last year, Rabbi Miriam asked us to think of a phrase or idea to carry into the year, and the words "Help me let go" came into my head and proved to be very useful through the year. Now I'm seeking a touchstone for 5781. I decided to let the Rosh Hashanah liturgy speak to me, and what stuck in my head wasn't actually from the holiday liturgy but from the Ahavat Olam, a prayer said at every evening service.

Ahavat olam beit Yisrael am'cha ahavta;
Torah umitzvot, chukim umishpatim otanu limadta.

Our machzor, Mishkan T'filah, translates this poetically, and it's the translation that caught my eye:

Love beyond all space and time—
Your love enfolds Your people, Yisrael.
We receive it in your teaching:
Your gift of Torah, sacred obligations, discipline, and law.

This struck me as a very specifically Jewish way of understanding divine love, and having spent the last four years in an increasingly lawless country, I'm particularly attuned to the idea that law is a sacred gift.

I missed the omer count, and was delighted to find the sefirat ha'binyan; now that's over, I need a new nightly ritual. Out of curiosity, I counted seven weeks from Rosh Hashanah to see what I would find. On the Hebrew calendar, nothing. On the secular calendar, November 5th.

Which is not so far from November 3rd.

So I'm adapting this practice for the weeks leading up to Election Day, still working with the kabbalistic traits of divinity associated with the omer count, but interpreting them through the lens of "Torah, sacred obligations, discipline, and law" as expressions of divine love. Call it sefirat ha'mishpatim, counting and working toward a government that enacts and obeys just laws.

I'm putting together daily practices based on the divine attributes associated with the omer count, working somewhat from R' Yael Levy's lovely mindfulness-focused omer count guide Journey Through the Wilderness. Anyone who wants to join me in this is welcome to. I'm also including suggested readings for some of the days and I'd love links to other readings that feel topical.

Since tonight is already day six, I'll be playing catch-up a bit, but I really didn't want to leave out the week of lovingkindness, compassion, and generosity. Chesed is the beginning of all activism for me. I defined it once as "the love that's like God's love", the love that's less personal and more social and even impartial. Taking time to ground myself in chesed gives my activism strength and purpose.

Week One: Chesed - Generosity, Love, Compassion

9/15: 1. Chesed sh'b chesed, compassion within compassion: Remember that the people you disagree with, even the people who threaten and endanger you, are people. Try to feel a measure of compassion for them. We are all in community together, even when that's a profoundly uncomfortable truth to sit with. Suggested reading: "Inside the Student-Led Movement to Depolarize College" by Gregory Scruggs.

9/16: 2. Gevurah sh'b chesed, discernment within generosity: Focused support will do more good than a scattershot approach. Make a list of five to ten candidates or organizations you want to support; the rest of the week will help narrow it down. Suggested reading: "Effective Political Giving" on Idle Words.

9/17: 3. Tiferet sh'b chesed, truth within love: Acknowledge your individual, personal, even selfish reasons for making the political choices you do. Recast this as taking action as an expression of loving and valuing yourself. From your list, choose a candidate or organization that holds personal resonance for you, and release yourself from needing to justify that choice.

9/18: 4. Netzach sh'b chesed, eternity within generosity: Imagine how the actions you take today might influence the world for generations to come. Choose a candidate or organization that's focused on the environment, law, education, health, or another cause that pays long-term dividends.

9/19 (Shabbat): 5. Hod sh'b chesed, presence within love: A few years ago, while on a meditation walk, I felt my attention wandering and reminded myself, "Be here now." Then I thought, "Where else could I be? I can only be here now." We're in the world we're in, with all its flaws, and we can cherish it even as we work to make it better. Think of even just one thing you love about the Earth of the year 2020/5781 and remind yourself of it when you despair. Suggested reading: the "good news" section of Future Crunch.

9/20: 6. Yesod sh'b chesed, rootedness within love: Our activism draws on an immense tradition of grassroots work to make the world better. That tradition teaches that every action matters, no matter how small it seems. Write down at least one social change action that works really well for you, and let go of feeling obligated to do the ones that don't. Suggested reading: "My Role in a Social Change Ecosystem" by Deepa Iyer.

9/21: 7. Malchut sh'b chesed, divine presence within compassion: In legends from around the world, divinity on earth often appears as a person who offers unexpected aid, or a person in need of help. Choose a candidate or organization that's focused on feeding, clothing, or sheltering people; buying up and paying off debts; reuniting detained families; or otherwise doing immediate good in the world right now.

At the end of this week, you should have a list of three candidates or organizations to support, at least one social change action that you feel you can do consistently and sustainably, and a little grounding in love and compassion for yourself, your community, and the world. Next week is gevurah, the week of strength, judgment, and discernment, and the outward-facing work begins.