Rabbi's Blog: Reflecting on the Year - October 2024

From last October to this October, it has been a year.   As we welcomed in Rosh Hashanah 5784, no one knew what the future would hold for the Jewish people.  Yet, we were hardly into that year when on Simchat Torah - October 7th - war began when Hamas murdered 1,200 people, took more than 200 hostage, and injured many more.  War in the Middle East and rising antisemitism in America and around the world has been painful and disorienting.

Jews are not just a religion, but a people too.  Our story begins not with revelation of a sacred text, but with Abraham and Sarah and then their descendants after them.  According to that story, Torah doesn’t even enter the picture until Moses - centuries after Abraham and Sarah.  And still today, being Jewish has been described not simply as a faith, but being a member of the tribe, or Am Yisrael - the People of Israel, or maybe one giant extended family. 

Being part of a people, like being a part of a family, doesn’t mean that we always agree - in fact, there are countless jokes about Jews always disagreeing.  It doesn’t mean that we’re better than anyone else.  It doesn’t mean that God thinks that we’re better than anyone else.  What it means is that we’re connected, that we’re part of something bigger than ourselves, and hopefully that we care about one another.

This past year has been challenging, to say the least. Despite that, being Jewish isn’t solely defined by the challenges we face.  We’re a people who don’t just survive, but hopefully thrive.  We thrive by recognizing not just the challenges, but the joys and blessings as well, whether that’s Shabbat or holidays, celebrating life moments like a birth or wedding, or simply being a part of a synagogue community.  May the year ahead be better, but either way, may we appreciate the blessings that come our way.  

Shannah Tovah, May You Have a Good Year.