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The Jewish people are, perhaps more than any other, constantly aware of the calendar.

So it's no surprise to hear people mention how the massive corruption bust, which reached deep into the Syrian Jewish community, took place during the nine days leading up to Tisha b'Av. But another anniversary recently passed, that of Jimmy Carter's infamous "malaise" speech, and it contained much the Jewish would do well to keep in mind as we -- a community with broken trust, a state with corrupt leaders, and a nation suffering through a recession -- look toward recovery.

On July 15, 1979, then-President Carter delivered a speech titled "A Crisis of Confidence," which was later recast as the infamous "malaise" speech. What most people don't remember -- or choose to forget -- is that the speech was well received and caused Carter's approval ratings to jump more than 10 points, but the goodwill it generated soon evaporated due to Carter's continued mistakes.

Thirty years later, it should finally get the recognition it deserves as a stirring appeal to American values and moral sensibilities.

Carter's speech was spurred by the energy crisis and the way it was creating a sense of doom among Americans. Today, it is almost taken for granted that Carter criticized his country's weakness, but that simply isn't the case. He said he wanted to address a threat to American democracy, and followed with: "I do not mean our political and civil liberties. They will endure. And I do not refer to the outward strength of America, a nation that is at peace tonight everywhere in the world, with unmatched economic power and military might."

The threat, he said, was a loss of faith and confidence. "We always believed that we were part of a great movement of humanity itself called democracy, involved in the search for freedom; and that belief has always strengthened us in our purpose," he said.

Sure, Carter hectored a bit, but those parts read more like a sermon most of us listen to in solemnity as the High Holidays approach. And he was right.

"In a nation that was proud of hard work, strong families, close-knit communities, and our faith in God, too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption," he said. "Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns. But we've discovered that owning things and consuming things does not satisfy our longing for meaning. We've learned that piling up material goods cannot fill the emptiness of lives which have no confidence or purpose."

A sense grew that he was blaming the American people for his own failed leadership. But this isn't accurate either. "Looking for a way out of this crisis, our people have turned to the federal government and found it isolated from the mainstream of our nation's life," he readily admitted. "Washington, D.C., has become an island. The gap between our citizens and our government has never been so wide."

He even touched on a distinctly Jewish idea about freedom. Orthodox Jewish scholars often face the claim that strict adherence to halakha is imprisoning. On the contrary, they respond. Following our every physical desire enslaves us to our instincts. True freedom, they say, is the freedom from indulgence, not the freedom to indulge.

Carter hit this point when he warned that there were two paths the American people could follow, the first of which leads to fragmentation and self-interest. "Down that road lies a mistaken idea of freedom, the right to grasp for ourselves some advantage over others," he said.

The other path is one of "common purpose" and being led by our values. "That path," he said, "leads to true freedom for our nation and ourselves."

Far from encouraging negativity, Carter told Americans to practice something taught by the great European mussar movements: "Let your voice be heard. Whenever you have a chance, say something good about our country."

Many reactions to Carter's speech included complaints that their president should not be their preacher-in-chief. Fair enough. But though we may oppose the medium and criticize the messenger, let us not dismiss the message: We are a great and blessed people.

In November, Rabbi Daniel Zemel of Temple Micah in Washington, D.C. gave a sermon about religion and politics in response to a question from a young congregant. Zemel reviewed what he would ask of the new U.S. president -- this was just before the election -- and the first on his list was honesty.

"Doublespeak is the equivalent of putting a stumbling block before the blind," Zemel said. "Cynicism corrodes the heart -- and the American heart has become depressingly cynical. Ultimately in life, all we have is who we are."

Let's use the corruption scandal and the anniversary of Carter's speech to remember that what we have isn't who we are, unless what we have is faith in God and our nation.

Seth Mandel is the managing editor of The Jewish State.