The Voice of Democracy
In 1973, General Augusto Pinochet seized power in a coup and effectively ended all civilian rule in Chile. I was born less than one year later, and for the first fifteen years of my life I lived under his dictatorship.
My father was the chief rabbi of Chile. My earliest memories are of my father’s voice, raised in resistance and in defiance of Pinochet’s rule.
Just months after the coup, and led by Archbishop Raúl Silva Henríquez, the Christian churches and the Jewish community unified under the Cooperation Committee for Peace in Chile to protect the lives of thousands of Chileans. This was one of the first organized resistances to Pinochet and it was formed by people of faith.
From an early age, I watched and learned that to be Jewish and to be a person of faith is to fight for justice and for moral values. Under Pinochet, the fight wasn’t a theoretical one. Under Pinochet, disagreement was unacceptable. Dissent was dangerous. Protest meant putting your life in jeopardy. We lived under curfew, and we knew the dangers of being on the streets at the wrong times. People who had dared to speak out against the regime were forcibly “disappeared”. My father’s voice, joined with others in protest — voices in affirmation of human rights, voices calling for justice — these voices that I heard as a child created the foundation of all that I do. Today I am a rabbi in the Boston area.
I lead a community with the same moral and spiritual imperatives — we pray and we fight for justice. We pray and we care for the vulnerable. There is no separation between spiritual life and moral life and religious life; there is no distance between the prayers we say in synagogue and the actions we must take.
On October 25, 2020, 78% of Chileans voted in favor of a new constitution to replace the 1980 fraudulent plebiscite set up by Pinochet. Sunday’s vote came as a result of protests and activism, engagement and unification. Although this is a joyful moment of change, and although Pinochet left official power over 30 years ago, the sad reality is that injustices and inequalities remain embedded in society long after the rule of a dictator is over.
On Tuesday, November 3rd, we vote in the US. Voting is our spiritual, moral and civic duty. Voting is our voice and our democratic affirmations. Today, years after Pinochet’s fall, I feel the imperative to remind us of what can happen when we lose our rights, even for just a short while — the scars run long and deep. At a time when the division in this country is so great, it is more important than ever to protect the mechanisms and institutions of our democracy, particularly the principle of a free and fair election where every eligible American can vote, knowing that their vote will be counted.
On Tuesday we are not only voting for the next four years in this country but for the lives, the rights, and the soul of our country for many years to come. It is highly unlikely that we will have a clear winner on Election Day. We will need to practice patience and hold tight our commitment to our system of democracy as we wait for every vote to be counted.
We will have much moral and spiritual work to do, no matter the winner.
