Moral and ethical values is the area where I sought to bring something unique to the Montana legislature as the first rabbi ever to serve there. Specifically, I have advanced the values of loving one’s neighbor, as well as the inherent dignity of every human being.
Bringing moral and ethical values to the legislature also means bringing people together around those values. In the last decade as Bozeman’s rabbi, I have worked with leaders of our Catholic, Protestant, LDS, Muslim, Buddhist, and other communities on interfaith programs that have built on our commonalities. Together, we have discovered that, when we get beyond language and superficial differences, we generally share the same human concerns and values. We have learned how to learn from one another to deepen our own lives. And we have learned how to work together towards those common values. In those instances in which we disagree, we have learned to do so while still loving one another and still working together on issues that matter. This is the attitude I have brought to Helena, an attitude which allows us to rise above the negativity and divisiveness.