“Do not keep silent.” (109:1)

Our Torah is a Torah of love and justice. In 1963, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel sent a telegram to President John F. Kennedy: “Please demand of religious leaders personal involvement, not just solemn declaration. We forfeit the right to worship God as long as we continue to humiliate Negroes. Church and synagogue have failed. They must repent. Ask of religious leaders to call for national repentance and personal sacrifice … The hour calls for moral grandeur and spiritual audacity.”

A leader cannot be silent. A leader must speak forcefully and unequivocally when the situation demands.