Much ink has been spilled in recent years commenting on the descent of millions of Americans into the acceptance as “normal” the dark spirit of intolerance, bigotry, hate, cruelty, suspicion, and mistrust. These corrosive tendencies, characterized in Judaism as יצר הרע – Yetzer HaRa (“the evil inclination”) is contributing mightily to the breakdown of community in America, to a lack of faith in America’s democratic institutions and traditions, and to the increasing incidence of violence directed at minorities and threats against elected officials, their families, and career professionals in the Department of Justice across the country. If all that weren’t bad enough, Donald Trump’s relentless mob rhetoric of vengeance and hatred threatens everyone who challenges him as he shamelessly unleashes his black-hole of hatred into the bloodstream of America.

The spirit of unity within diversity that characterized the aspirations of the founding generation of the United States in the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 19th Amendments, the New Deal and Great Society legislation, among many other progressive efforts since, seems to be dissipating before our eyes as right-wing autocratic extremists, still a minority of Americans, use democratic processes to justify themselves as they appeal to the lowest common denominator of anger, hate, frustration, greed, resentment, intolerance, and arrogance.

The High Holidays have just concluded during which, hopefully, our minds and hearts were opened to the truth that we need not be victims to the ruthlessly evil, that moral depravity need not control us, that history is not predetermined, that we can change our circumstances through concerted and willful action, and that human agency can expand in real terms the principle first articulated in the Book of Genesis (1:27) that we human beings are created בצלם אלוהים – b’tzelem Elohim (in the Divine Image), meaning that every woman, man, and child is endowed with infinite value and infinite worth, and that the principles of equality, justice, mercy, and respect for the “other” (those unlike us) are imbued in the human spirit if we allow our better angels to inspire us to act ethically and compassionately towards all.

A colleague told his congregation on Erev Rosh Hashanah: “Tomorrow hasn’t happened yet…” Those three dots at the end of that phrase is the space within which we American citizens can shape the outcome of the coming 2024 election cycle as well as what our criminal justice system can do in effectively and fairly prosecuting alleged perpetrators of crime thereby protecting us from unwittingly being sucked into the black hole of the ruthlessly evil that now defines a formerly great American political party.

Yes – America has changed over the years, for better and worse. But good people can be found in every community. President Barack Obama reminded us once that “anyone who threatens our values, whether fascists or communists or jihadists or homegrown demagogues, will always fail in the end.”

This next year will be pivotal to the future of American democracy and what it means to be American. Tomorrow hasn’t happened yet… It really is up to us to determine the future.

I wish for us all in 5784 an אומץ לב – Ometz Lev (a courageous heart) and much love. We will need a great deal of each as we move through the days, weeks, and months ahead.