ויקם מלך חדש

For many of you, tomorrow will be the most historic day of your conscious lives. How old were you on 9/11/2001? I have to admit that until that day, I hadn't experienced much history either. I remember once, I must have been in college or graduate school, arguing with my friends about the most historic event that we had experienced, and the best we could come up with was the death of Princess Diana. When the Twin Towers were destroyed, I first appreciated what a ברכה it was to have lived in such trivial times.

Tomorrow is the evidence that historic doesn't have to mean tragic. No matter what your thoughts on the election, or even the president-elect, from at least one perspective, Barack Obama's inauguration is a glorious day for this glorious nation. At a Shabbos meal this week, I got into an argument with a virtual stranger. He was telling me how naive I am about America, and that it's just a matter of time before the latent anti-semitism that lurks deep in the hearts of the over-whelming majority of our neighbors reaches the surface. I argued that America is fundamentally different than any other nation in history, and that with the exception of fringes on the extreme, is sincerely accepting of all. As an example, I cited everyone who kept warning before the election that Obama would lose unless he were up by 10-12% due to the "Bradley Effect" - white voters who would not vote for a black man, but feel guilty enough to lie about it to pollsters. Straight through election season I thought that there would be no such effect because today's America had effectively chased racism to the fringe. Contemporary America has turned the page on its most shameful chapter, and can tomorrow celebrate what it has become, no matter what kind of President he turns out to be.

And we get to see it live.