May 15, 2026 – Bamidbar

Wholeness: The Weakening of the Voting Rights Act and a Religious Call to Action

“Take a census of the whole Israelite community by the tribes of its ancestral houses, listing the names, every male, head by head. You and Aaron shall record them by their groups, from the age of twenty years up, all those in Israel who are able to bear arms.” — Numbers 1:2-3

As the academic year winds down and summer approaches we start a new book of the Torah, B’midbar, meaning In the Wilderness but titled Numbers in English translations. You will note in the verses above that I highlighted the word whole, or kol in the Hebrew. I have done so because the lack of wholeness concerns me as we approach our primaries next week and continue with the long buildup toward the general election midterms in November. The repeated weakening of the Voting Rights Act, what one journalist called “death by a thousand cuts,” is demoralizing, depressing and undemocratic.

Let us be clear about something. There never has been a perfect form of representational decision-making. Whether we are looking at this week’s portion or the court decisions of recent weeks, we are forced to confront the fact that someone is always being left out. No sooner does our passage say all or the whole community than it says only males 20 and older capable of bearing arms. Add to this that Levites cannot hold land and are excused from military service so they can attend to their duties as priests, a role reserved solely for them.

Yet, like our Declaration of Independence and Constitution, we can look at Numbers as aspiring for inclusion, representation and fairness within the context of its time. We can strive for wholeness even if we never achieve it, strive for just representation even if we do not realize it. One of the problems with the latest defeats for the Voting Rights Act is that it no longer protects the power of the minority vote. It is true that gerrymandering does not disenfranchise people of color as individuals. It does not prevent people from voting. It does, however, significantly dilute the power of their collective vote. The number of Black legislators who stand to lose their seats is alarming. It is not in keeping with the letter or the spirit of the Voting Rights Act. Redistricting of this kind is to engage in a legal fiction whereby we count the votes of Black people while ensuring the Black vote won’t count. To dilute the Black vote is to leave whole communities without a voice. To diminish the collective strength of a district by conveniently relocating it elsewhere is to abandon wholeness so that a particular group can have more power.

Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner sacrificed their lives so their Black brothers could live in freedom. Dr. Abraham Joshua Heschel marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma so we could live in a democracy. Jews from all over the country protested, joined the Freedom Riders, risked beatings, and jail so civil rights, particularly the right to vote, would no longer be denied. On these Sabbaths between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day let us reflect on what generations before us endured and try to practice at least some measure of their courage.

In the weeks and months ahead, I will be sharing information about what you can do in concert with local and nationwide partners to halt the advance of regressive efforts to weaken the hard-won advances of our past. In coordination with the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, I will be making voter registration, education and protection efforts available to you and our partners throughout the community. These organizations do not endorse candidates or contribute money to them. Within the framework of robust democracy, we can disagree about who to vote for and how we see the issues. What we cannot do is continue to decrease the power of some while increasing that of others as we insist we are truly democratic.

If numbers are to matter, if representation is meant to achieve wholeness, then all people must have a voice. Please look at what the organizations above are offering and keep an eye for ways we can support our Reform Movement and our partners in this important work. May everyone be counted and may everybody count.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Wirtschafter