Happy Passover. A shout out to all our Jewish friends and comrades who, over the past two hundred days, have modeled for us the true meaning of peace. This shalom has nothing to do with staying civil or steering clear of conflict in an aggressively unjust world. This shalom demands the health and harmony of the whole community. It is committed to collective liberation. The assurance that all God’s children will be protected and provided for — no matter what we look like, where we were born, who we love, or how we worship.

In the spirit of biblical shalom, we offer this story about a journalist asking Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel why he was attending a protest against the war in Vietnam. Heschel answered, “I am here because I cannot pray.” The journalist was annoyed and asked him what he meant. Heschel replied:

Whenever I open the prayerbook, I see before me images of children burning from napalm. Indeed, we forfeit the right to pray, if we are silent about the cruelties committed in our name by our government. In a free society, some are guilty, but all are responsible. How dare we come before God with our prayers when we commit atrocities against the one image we have of the divine: human beings?