Donald Trump is making history. A candidate whom few took seriously early on, who has been denounced as a bad, even dangerous, choice in the media, is a clear favorite with GOP voters.
How did this happen? Nation-wide dissatisfaction with the status quo.
It seems everyone is dissatisfied. People are upset with Obama, with Wall Street. Angry at the establishment and the economy. Upset about immigration and the state of politics in Washington.
This dissatisfaction has fueled millions of Americans to vote for two polar opposite candidates—Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, something unprecedented in the history of the country.
The 2016 campaign has become an obsession. People are voting in droves, with a much higher turnout than usual. Social media is flooded with talk about the candidates; it seems like the only thing on people’s minds!
People are unhappy with the status quo, and feel strongly that their candidate is the path to major change.
Judaism, in fact, values dissatisfaction. We are taught never to be satisfied with the status quo, but to constantly strive for improvement. If today I did one mitzvah, tomorrow I’ll try to do two. If today I gave $1000 to charity, next time I’ll give some more. If today I spent 10 minutes visiting a sick person, next week let me spend 15.
This is what it means to be religious—constantly striving for the next level: more shul, more Torah study, another mitzvah, another Shabbat guest, another kind deed.
On a global level, we need to tap into our dissatisfaction with this long and bitter exile. We need to be upset that Moshiach has not yet arrived. We need to feel fury at the bitter bloodshed in Israel. We need to feel angry that innocent people are being slaughtered daily all over the world.
Ad Matai? How much longer must this continue?!
My thanks to Rabbi Avi Shlomo for the idea of this article