Community Blog Freedom to Participate: Rabbinical Students Volunteer as Poll Chaplains
Earlier this month, a cohort of Hebrew College rabbinical students traveled to Pennsylvania on election day to serve as interfaith poll chaplains, functioning as a nonpartisan, pro-democracy, spiritual presence. “This is an opportunity to engage in sacred work,” said Shanah Heh student Rafi Ellenson. “We will help to ensure that voting is a fair and equitable process by applying the skills we are cultivating in the classroom/beit midrash.”
The students received their poll chaplaincy training through a program operated by Sojourners Action in partnership with Faiths United to Save Democracy, a “nonpartisan, multi-racial, multi-faith, and multi-generation 2022-2024 voter protection campaign”. As covered in the Forward, the poll chaplaincy effort “organized numerous trainings for its poll chaplains on how to deescalate situations, or distract anyone attempting to intimidate or harass voters. Techniques include engaging a harasser in conversation to divert them from the voting line, and making sure not to condescend while noting the negative impact of aggression on the voters.”
“I signed on because I feel that being a set of eyes and ears as well as a compassionate, loving presence is one of the best things I can do to help support our democracy,” said Hebrew College rabbinical student Sam Tygiel in advance of election day. “Democracy is an essential tool for creating a world where we can help uplift and nurture the divine spark within all people. Voting and upholding our democratic systems makes it easier for us to follow the commandments and discern the wisdom within each of us.”
Fighting for everyone’s freedom to participate in determining our collective political fate is a religious obligation.”
The rabbinical students were connected to this effort by Hebrew College’s Miller Center for Interreligious Learning & Leadership, through its ongoing collaboration with Rev. Adam Taylor, president of Sojourners, a Christian social justice organization. In June, Rev. Taylor was a featured speaker in dialogue with Miller Center Director Rabbi Or Rose during the Miller Center digital seminar, “Leading Faithfully in a Time of Division,” where he spoke about the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King’s rhetoric and organizing.
2024 was Faith United to Save Democracy’s third election operating the poll chaplaincy program. The effort has grown with each election day, and the Hebrew College cohort joined a group of more than 800 multi-faith clergy volunteers. Coordinating with local election workers and volunteers, chaplains were dispatched to ten states where organizers felt their calming presence would soothe communal tensions and safeguard the Democratic process on a day of uncertainty and heightened emotion. “Fighting for everyone’s freedom to participate in determining our collective political fate is a religious obligation,” said Hebrew College rabbinical student Aron Wander.
Pictured left-right: Rabbinical students David Fisher, Leah Weinstein, Julia Spiegel, Rafi Ellenson