Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
These often quoted words come to us in the beauty of a July morning, in the heat of a garden in the late afternoon, in the vivid displays of fireworks that light up the skies. The comparison of one’s beloved to the glories of summer is elegant, and wistful, and unforgettable. But having articulated his point, the poet ends on a couplet that underscores that final word.
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
That is, as long as this sonnet, these words, this declaration endures, so will the memory of the beloved. This seems to shift the meaning of the poem, for it places greatest value on the work of the poet, on his accomplishment.
We live in interesting times, no matter the season. A posting on Facebook can give someone a vast audience and the words we publish have the potential to endure forever. While many people use this as an opportunity to make inane pronouncements and offer information that is useless to anyone but themselves, the words we use have the ability to change people’s lives.
Women of Reform Judaism takes this possibility to heart, and is dedicated to making the words we use matter. Supporting platforms that include pay equity, the rights of women to worship at the Western Wall, demanding that a nominee to the Supreme Court be allowed timely hearings, providing incubator grants to sisterhoods working for social justice, opening our doors and welcoming those who would not otherwise find a home in which to worship, are not exercises in basic comp. We mean the things we say and write, and those words have the ability to impact society.
On every level, our words matter and will endure. The leadership in every sisterhood will find support in the board of the Northeast District, and in Women of Reform Judaism, for we are stronger together. And if only some of our words bring us to the reality of bettering the world, shining under the eye of heaven, then we can still say, “dayenu.”
Shakespeare was a poet with a huge facility for words, and they have been cited for over four hundred years, but I’m pretty sure that wasn’t in his vocabulary.
Best wishes for a lovely and more temperate summer,
Sharon Sobel, Vice President, WRJ Northeast District
Wilton, Connecticut
