By Dan Weiss

This doesn’t mean weakening our ideology or changing a pillar, but it means to be more creative with our ideas and what we stand for. We can’t be an active movement if we only believe and look at static forms of ideology. We must be constantly creating and recreating our beliefs and paths.

More personally, I think a lot of times, we get carried away with what “should” happen. This can take the form of where we think a relationship “should” be, what actions we “should” take, or what work we “should” be doing in the movement. I think these are definitely good things to think about. They can help us think about the future and take actions to bring a reality that we want. So many times, though, this idea of “should” becomes a burden, something that you are carrying even though you might not want to, or maybe don’t even have the ability to. A should is only positive if matched with a willingness and a passion as well. Without those, a should is a form of external and internal coercion. It does not take into account your individuality. We must strive to be like the way G-d intends humans to be in this story: willing to act and engage in the community and with others, while also taking into account each other’s and our own needs, creativity, and passions. We must not be slaves with the “should”. We need to be partners with it, letting the “should” effect you and you effecting the “should”. This is the only way to be fulfilled in activity.

So to conclude, I think we all need to ask ourselves a bunch of questions. How is the movement changing? How do we want it to change? How can we make a name for ourselves and spread our influence without conforming to the mainstream? How can we decrease the internal and external coercion that occurs in our life? How can we match what we “should” do with what we want to do? How can we engage with the movement and each other in challenging and meaningful ways that take into account everybody’s unique aspects and individuality?

We must not be like the humans of Babel, nameless and static. We must rise up and be who we are, a movement and individuals, constantly changing, forever progressing, always shaping the road that we travel on. We must act in the image of G-d.

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