After the vote, one people.

We have a lot at stake in next week’s election. Let’s not lose our minds — and our sense of peoplehood — over it.

“Despite our differences, we are one nation,” President Reuven Rivlin told the Jews of Israel, “with responsibility for each other and the right to demand tolerance from each other.”

The two articles published on the cover of today's Jewish Star feverishly advocate for one candidate or another, predicting a dire outcome if the other wins. While most readers of The Jewish Star will vote for President Trump, others — along with most American Jews — support Vice President Biden.

Although these articles are unlikely to change votes, we are printing them to make a point: However correct we may be in our political beliefs, others feel they are equally correct, and we should calmly and respectfully consider their perspective. We should acknowledge that among those on “the other side” are Jews who are devoted to their religion and their people and the state of Israel, and who sincerely believe that their candidate will best serve klal Yisrael and America.

Whether President Trump is reelected or Vice President Biden wins the presidency, the issues that concern us today will be with us after inauguration day, and new ones — many unanticipated — will challenge us as well.

To “guard our tongue” and avoid lashon harah does not mean we should overlook evil or danger, but rather that we think before we speak and consider the power of our words.

When the stakes require it (as they do in this election) and we speak with passion, we must insure that foremost in our hearts and minds is a preeminent passion — our imperishable love for our fellow Jews.