A tribute to my husband, Simon L. Klein, on the occasion of his birthday.

This past weekend, we read the words, “Tzedek, Tzedek Tirdof, Justice, Justice shall you pursue.” It is the clarion call to make the world a better place. It is perhaps the guiding principle of our family. Our families have a long tradition of participating in social action. When I met my husband he was the chairperson of Temple Emanuel’s Social Action committee. His family has been extensively involved in refugee resettlement work in Tucson. So when we got married, it is just what we did. We worked on hunger, on homelessness, on peace, on domestic violence. And somewhere along the way, we learned that working with others was fun. And it builds community.

When you work at a soup kitchen, it takes more than just two. Some people need to cook the Chicken Divine. Some people make salad. Some people make rice. Some people go get the bread to distribute. Some people set up. Others serve. Still others might be on clean up. During the course of the time, there is much laughter. Much sharing of stories—both amongst the volunteers and the guests. There is a genuine caring that develops. That is community.

When you swing a hammer or paint a house, and you spend 8 hours on a Sunday volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, you stabilize a neighborhood, provide housing for people who need it and build your own organization’s community.

When you organize for justice, with an organization like Merrimack Valley Project, and you identify the top three issues in the community, and you then figure out how to achieve your goals, that builds community, and it empowers people.

These are just three examples. And it is not just me who makes this point. Rabbi Sid Schwarz in his book, Finding a Spiritual Home, examines four successful synagogues across of the American streams of Judaism. In each case, the congregation had a robust social action program and many times the social action program is what drew new members in.

Two weeks ago I was in Guatemala with American Jewish World Service getting a first hand glimpse as to how community is built with social action. There will be more of that discussion on Yom Kippur. But one of the texts we studied was this week’s portion. On Shabbat morning, Ruth Messinger, the president of AJWS, taught about what happens if a body is found out in the open, not in a town, the Torah asks who is responsible. The question is really about who needs to provide the burial. The elders of the town perform a complicated ritual and then proclaim, “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it done.”

Sotah, a section of the Mishnah explains.

Mishnah Sotah 9:6

The elders of that town washed their hands in water at the place where the neck of the heifer was broken, and they said, “Our hands have not shed this blood neither have our eyes seen it.”  But could it be that the elders of a Court were shedders of blood?  But, “He came not into our hands that we should have dismissed him without sustenance, and we did not see him and leave him without escort!”  And the priests say, “Atone for your people Israel whom you redeem to God and do not allow for there to be innocent blood spilled amongst the people of Israel.”

What Ruth went on to teach is our responsibility to be proactive. To see the person. As a person. Because they didn’t see him, they didn’t provide him with food or security so he left the town. That is a sin of failure to act. It is a sin of omission. “We are bound not only to intervene to protect people against danger but also to anticipate potential dangers and work to prevent them.” If they had seen the man and failed to provide him with food and security, then they would have been responsible, even if they didn’t directly kill him.

She sees a direct connection to Heschel: “In a free society where terrible wrongs exist some are guilty but all are responsible.

Today is my husband’s birthday. His 75^th. This year he has attended the March on Selma. the Religious Action Center’s Consultation on Conscious in Washington, and the Walk for Hunger. He spoke about his trip to Selma on Shabbat and how inspiring it was. He routinely writes letters to elected officials and signs petitions. He attended the American Jewish World Service meeting with Representative Peter Roskam. He has worked together with me on countless food drives, soup kitchens and Habitat Houses. It is what we do as a family. In truth, his commitment to social justice, to tzedek, tzedek tirdof, is a large part of why I married him. That, and his deep blue eyes.