A company recently ran an experiment to connect individuals across two politically polarized locations. They set up one payphone in San Francisco and another in Abilene, Texas, and invited passersby to ring the other location. After 400 conversations, the company found that an overwhelming majority of the exchanges were positive, and more than half included laughter. People discussed politics but spent more time talking about everyday life, family, aspirations, grief, and happiness.

Stories like this challenge the narrative of inevitable polarization. The findings remind us that even through the fog of division, it’s in our nature to find our way to each other’s humanity. Our disagreements are real. But disagreement doesn’t have to prevent us from connecting and working toward common goals. In fact, the passion behind our convictions can frequently be a starting point for finding common ground.

Indeed, we’re heading into consequential weeks in Israel and the United States. All the while, a new era of Jewish life is unfolding. This is precisely when we need to come together as a collective, in the nation’s capital, to pursue a shared future.

Federation is a mechanism for making this possible. We create opportunities for people to come together and shape, strengthen, and benefit from a strong Jewish community in an era of overlapping headwinds. Our work runs the gamut: supporting organizations that provide food assistance and other essential services; helping Jews at every life stage make Jewish friends, engage in Jewish learning, and explore Jewish wisdom; taking on the complex challenges facing the Jewish people and Israel, and so much more.

In many ways, we’re running a countercultural operation. At a time when so much seems designed to deepen our partisan and social divides, we’re choosing to install metaphorical payphones. We’re investing in the relationships, institutions, and shared experiences that bring us closer. And we’re working together to leave Jewish life, and the world around us, better than we found it.

I invite you to be part of this work and stake a claim in our countercultural approach by making a gift to Federation. Through October 30, any amount you give to Federation’s efforts to support vibrant Jewish life in our region will be matched dollar-for-dollar, doubling your impact.

In this election season, one of the most important votes of confidence we can cast is in one another. Time now to get to the polls.