For the past few months, J.’s editorial space has been a repository for our collective worry and alarm: the divisive summer war between Israel and Hamas, the chaos in Ukraine, the sickening flare-up of anti-Semitic violence in Europe, the horrifying rise of ISIS.
With a heavy heart, we weighed in on all of it. Now it’s time for some good news.
Come the evening of Sept. 24, Rosh Hashanah will be upon us, and as we say Happy New Year, the Jewish people once again have the opportunity for renewal.
As our local Year in Review story on page 4 makes plain, the last 12 months have fit the proverbial curse, “May you live in interesting times.”
Many well-known and well-liked Jewish community leaders either moved on or passed away. The decision not to hold Israel in the Gardens in 2014 hit hard, depriving the community of its largest annual one-day gathering. On top of that, we heard plenty of the heated debate typical of a dynamic, politically diverse community such as ours.
But nothing in the past year roiled the Bay Area Jewish community like the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teens at the hands of Hamas, followed by the revenge murder of a Palestinian teen, and then the subsequent war in Gaza.
As the sirens sounded and the rockets rained down on Israel day after day, we agonized for our brothers and sisters there as they scrambled to bomb shelters. Once the invasion of Gaza began, and the death toll mounted on both sides, our distress magnified.
Some days it seemed as if the war might never end.
After 50 days, it did. Gaza is in ruins, Palestinian and Israeli children are traumatized, and the political and economic repercussions have not yet been fully tallied. Peace in the region remains elusive.
Now is the time to reflect and to look to our tradition for spiritual restoration.
When we gather in our homes and synagogues, see old friends and acquaintances, eat together, pray together, sing together, perhaps weep together, we remember that the seemingly insurmountable stress of any given hour will surely pass.
The sound of the shofar serves as both our comfort and our call to action. In the days ahead, we have work to do, at home and abroad. Self-reflection, self-assessment and the humbling task of seeking forgiveness from those we have wronged. It’s tough stuff.
But it starts with joy, excitement and a new moon in the sky on Wednesday night.
We wish all of our readers a heartfelt Shanah Tovah. May we be inscribed in the Book of Life for 5775.