Voter Registration Video - Rabbi Shlomo Farhi

Dear community members, there's a lot of times a rabbi asks you to do something that is very difficult. It might be important. It might be beautiful. It might be something that you have an obligation to do. But it's hard. It's not easy to keep Shabbat. It's not easy to go kosher. It's not easy to join the gimar class every day. But there are some things that are easy to do. And in Shamayim in heaven, not only do they judge us based on whether or not something is good or bad, important or not, they also judge us on how much effort it took. Classically, the Mishna says according to the effort is the reward. Usually people understand that to mean that the harder you try for something, the more the reward for that thing is. But the truth is that Mishna also means exactly the opposite. According to the effort is the reward. When something requires such minimal effort like registering to vote, like voting for a candidate, which will change the lives of every member of the Jewish community, like the election we're facing now, and you stay home and you stay out of it, Hakadosh Baru asks of us, how much how much have I asked from you already? Can't you even just do this little thing for somebody else? How selfish are we to stay home and not care about something like this? You know, the Torah tells us you have an obligation to place in your gates judges and policemen. This mitzvah is not only a mitzvah for Jews, it's even a mitzvah for non-Jews. Anyone that follows the Old Testament has this make sure judges, policemen upholding the rule of law in a mayoral race like the one we're looking at right now. The very rule of law is on the ballot. Don't let that go down because you were too lazy to spend two minutes registering. Don't let that become the reality for your children and your grandchildren. My friends, it's so easy. Future generations, our children will ask us, "How did you let this happen to us? It must have been so difficult to stop it." and we'll have to sit back and know that actually it wasn't difficult at all. We just could not be bothered to register and to vote. Don't let that be me. Don't let that be you. Don't let that be your 18-year-old son or daughter, your parents, your friends, your community members. Every single person needs to get out there and vote in a manner and in a way that will protect the community for years to come.