What can words do in a time that demands action? I ask this question, having been invited to share my thoughts on a patently, increasingly unstable sociopolitical climate and wondering what words can be offered at a time when there have been so many words, an ocean littered with opinions, commentary, disinformation, fabrication and manipulation, and not enough action towards stabilization and reclaiming balance and justice.

What we have been seeing recently and over the last several months, at a local, national and international level, has been seen before historically: the slow steady boiling of the populace via ever more extreme measures of control, oppression and dominance, and the desensitization that often results from witnessing and enduring a steady litany of crimes and injustices. Just as at other points in history, such deplorable, heinous actions are all intended to overwhelm our nervous systems and render everyday people incapacitated, frozen and unable to take action.

The freeze response is an instinctive survival strategy that is not unique to human beings; other animals also display it in moments of panic, uncertainty and unsafety. However, this strategy never addresses or confronts a challenge, and doesn’t even guarantee survival. Oppression, which can be understood as a form of abuse and sociopathy at a societal level, is intended to provide a steady stream of harrowing, terrifying experiences that suppress the human instinct to confront dangers and challenges in an empowered way, and instead shape us into people who accept oppression and abuse and remain immobilized, disempowered and compliant.

Inaction will not save us. It never has. It won’t buy time or safety. It’s deeply understandable to find oneself immobilized at times of crisis and uncertainty. Yet, at an individual level it is our ongoing responsibility to decide if we will be subjected to our instinct to hide, freeze or become invisible, or if we will self possess and choose to take action towards materializing our own vision for our lives, our community, our country and our world through the decisions we each make on a daily basis, the choices large and small, collectively and individually, that contribute to that vision. Our redemption demands our action.

Historically, the Jewish people found liberation in mobilization, in moving their bodies and taking action. Every Shabbat and at other key moments of observation, celebration and remembrance we recount the Exodus, the movement of a people away from and out of the hands of their oppressors. The simultaneous collective action of thousands of enslaved Hebrews to abandon their enslavement, to shift their bodies and minds, to leave what was harmful yet familiar behind, and move, with fear and with hope, towards liberation and an uncertain future was an inflection point in the course of human history. It wasn’t supposed to happen– the oppression was steady, it was focused, it was effective for centuries. Yet, with intervention from higher order forces of change, with visionary leadership and with contagious courage, this moment became a demonstration of and prototype for justice and liberation at a societal level. At numerous points in Jewish history the people survived because they did not engage in denial of their oppression, or refusal to do the brave thing and move their bodies in the name of justice. “Tzedek, tzedek tirdof,” justice, justice you shall pursue, involves pursuit, movement towards a target worthy of our energy and resources, our bravery and our persistence.

Our future IS certain if we fail to act and mobilize at a critical moment in history: little or nothing will change towards the collective vision for justice, and all agency is ceded to forces that seek to dominate, abuse and oppress in a tragically familiar, pharaonic manner.

Consider fewer words and more action. Set perfection aside if you must and experiment: it may start with a walk, with encounters with neighbors. It may start with a phone call, a letter, a message. It may start with making a donation, with volunteering, with asking a question. The shift from neutral to first gear is what matters. JCUA exists to support collective, focused action towards justice, peace and balance in our community. Consider this an invitation to try, an invitation to take action, to move, to mobilize for change.