Contemplating Change? – Day 4

4 Elul 5774
by Michelle Singleton

Contemplating Change?

As we enter the month of Elul and begin the trek to the High Holidays, I find myself contemplating change.   What is change?  Why are people afraid of it?  How much change is enough?

This year, as every year, I find myself wondering why we are still fascinated by skin color.  Why does skin color cause people to judge if you are trustworthy, honest, fair, capable of being brilliant or of even being a Jew?  Even as we move to accepting alternative life styles we still do not accept skin colors.  We look at them with disdain or want.  Skin color is not something that can be changed with the seasons, it is not something that we can hide but must be something we embrace.

Anti-Semitism is on the rise?  Is it?  Color discrimination is on the rise?  Is it?  Have we only pretended that we no longer see the differences while harboring the fear inside of us?

This year consider contemplating why we can accept differing lifestyles but not differing skin colors.  Consider how much has changed, yet stayed the same.