For religious Jews and committed Christians, real change demands a commitment to God and His law, not just volunteer efforts for an inspiring politican. The very idea that government and politics can accomplish the work of spiritual renewal counts as a ludicrous insult, an obamanation. When it comes to the job of “fixing souls” or showing the way to lost sheep, the right response for any presidential candidate would be: “That’s beyond my pay grade.”

The leftwing tendency to view politics as a substitute for religion will properly worry more Americans than the right’s habit of allowing faith commitments to impact political positions. It’s true that social conservatives sometimes feel such fervent religious enthusiasm that we allow our faith to spill over into the political realm. On the other hand, liberals nurture the sort of political intensity and fervor that not only invades the religious domain but often takes the place of organized faith. Liberal denominations regularly describe their chief mission as “social justice” – meaning the agitation for redistributionist and activist government policies long advocated by the left. My friend, columnist Mona Charen, memorably described Reform Judaism (the most “progressive” branch of our ancient faith) as “nothing more than the Democratic Party with holidays.”

If there’s one message of this season’s real holidays, it’s that no movement, no political campaign, no public initiative can fill “holes in the soul” as effectively as nurturing a private relationship with the Creator. As Rabbi Daniel Lapin trenchantly observes, people will either worship “the big G” – God, or else they will worship “the little g”—government.

The adulation and embrace of government will undermine devotion to God, just as subservience and love for God will dilute the authority of government. That’s why totalitarian systems of every sort distrust and suppress authentic religious faith.

This year, the month of October brings both political frenzy and religious reflection. In the dual spirit of this season, may we help to return the lost from their wandering and restore all broken souls, finding the strength and the insight to uphold the right “G.”