Friends,

Today is one of those days...

For me, it was 9/11. For my parents, it was the day JFK was shot.

Sitting here preparing to watch our new president take the oath of office, I'm struck by the feeling that today will be a day when, in 30 years, I will remember exactly where I am sitting at this very moment... the coffee I am drinking... the way the dog is asleep at my feet.

To be sure, today is largely what others have already made it out to be: a new beginning, a chance to right what is so severely wrong with our great country... its attitude, its direction, and its general outlook on responsibility as it pertains to our society.

However, today is also much, much more than that.

Today is our time... It is our chance...

It is our moment.

There are beautiful sentiments that accompany this day. Race, class, and economic origin, once socio-cultural walls that could not be scaled, have become conquerable obstacles.

However, as profound as these changes may be, they are not the critical center of this story.

We are, as both a nation and a people, at a decisive point in our times. The great achievements of this country hang in the balance during these days of economic struggle and social turmoil. Theology and democracy, caught in a struggle of conscientious coexistence, dig at the foundation of our political and social structures...

Let today be much more than the beginning of a new presidential term... more than a mere change in leadership, or even a poignant and decisive change in political point of view.

Let today be a rallying cry to those who have lost hope in this great country of ours.

Let the left and the right meet in the center of our collective being.

Let our conscience be our guide as we enter this era of renewed personal responsibility.

Let us move ahead, and let us remember this day as a turning point in the development and emotional growth of this nation.

Lo alecha ham'lacha ligmor. V'lo ata ben chorim l'hibatil mimena.

Let's go, America.