Learn to Do Good

“Learn to do good, seek justice, relieve the oppressed. Uphold the orphan’s rights, take up the widow’s cause” –Isaiah 1:17

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend Women of Reform Judaism’s annual board meeting and special Centennial Symposium. The highlights of the weekend are too many to count – a keynote address from Dr. Jonathan D. Sarna at Sunday’s Symposium, a presentation from Rabbi Bradley Solmsen from the Campaign for Youth Engagement on the future of the Reform Movement, updates from all the WRJ departments on our impressive array of programs and initiatives from the past year, and deciding who will be the recipients of this year’s Or Ami Awards for Special Achievement. Yet one part of the weekend has stuck in my head, even as I traveled back to D.C. and resumed life at the RAC : the WRJ Centennial Anthem that was sung so passionately at the end of Shabbat services on Saturday morning. The chorus is from a verse in Isaiah: “limdu heitiv, dirshu mishpat, ashru chamotz” – “learn to do good, seek justice, relieve the oppressed” and “Shiftu yatom, rivu almanah” – “uphold the orphan’s rights, take up the widow’s cause.” These commandments have been at the center of Reform Jewish social action – whether through WRJ or through the RAC – for decades and continue to be guiding principles for our whole Movement. Whether it’s the WRJ Board of Director’s passage of a gun violence prevention statement at this past weekend’s meeting, or Rabbi Rick Jacobs speaking at the Nuns on the Bus immigration reform kick-off event, or hundreds of clergy signing a letter in support of LGBT equality, Reform Jews are “seeking justice” on behalf of the oppressed, the orphan and the widow. But what struck me most about the Centennial Anthem’s refrain is the very first word – “learn.” We must LEARN – and therefore, presumably, must be taught – the importance of pursuing justice and repairing our world. This is a lesson I got to experience first-hand through our L’taken seminars, and is a principle that WRJ has internalized and embodied through its now century-long (!) commitment to our Movement’s youth and instilling in them a strong sense of responsibility and social justice. Yet, as I think everyone at the board meeting this weekend realized, learning does not end when we graduate from 12^th grade. We all constantly learn better ways to “do good,” and more and more good work that there is still to be done. Let us not forgot the importance of turning learning into action, and of continuing this process throughout our lives.