Reflecting on the past year is our job as Jews this time of year. This ancient practice is asked of us in the name of repairing where we were off, what we got wrong, where we caused harm. And it is also how we prepare to do even better in the year to come.
And for me it has been hard, if not impossible, to separate how the Yamim HaNoraim this year mark a year from October 7, when along with Hamas’ brutal surprise attack on Israelis, Hayim Katzman z"l was among the murdered. And, these Yamim HaNoraim also hold the anniversary of October 8, when the Israeli military began its sadly predictable brutal retaliation. With this retaliation ongoing, in the last week it has escalated in scary ways.
With the escalation in Lebanon, I remember that some of Kadima's first press in our early years highlighted Kadima members standing up and speaking out against the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Many Kadima founders have pointed to that activism – being a Jewish voice against Israeli government actions – as what brought them into Kadima in the first place.
A definition of Teshuvah is “return,” and indeed here we are again. The Rambam (Rabbi Moses Maimonides) wrote in 12th century Egypt that the highest form of teshuvah is being in the same or a similar situation and acting differently. And yet here we are again. And again. And again.
It gives me pride to be in community that is full of people willing to persist at being change agents and prophetic voices despite a seemingly immutable situation. To continue to work for change when decades go by without much of it, it can be easy to feel hopeless. And yet we act.
As we “return” this season, may we collectively find the strength, courage, creativity, will, and support to do something different for a change.
Shabbat shalom… and shanah tovah u'metukah!
R’ David
And for me it has been hard, if not impossible, to separate how the Yamim HaNoraim this year mark a year from October 7, when along with Hamas’ brutal surprise attack on Israelis, Hayim Katzman z"l was among the murdered. And, these Yamim HaNoraim also hold the anniversary of October 8, when the Israeli military began its sadly predictable brutal retaliation. With this retaliation ongoing, in the last week it has escalated in scary ways.
With the escalation in Lebanon, I remember that some of Kadima's first press in our early years highlighted Kadima members standing up and speaking out against the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Many Kadima founders have pointed to that activism – being a Jewish voice against Israeli government actions – as what brought them into Kadima in the first place.
A definition of Teshuvah is “return,” and indeed here we are again. The Rambam (Rabbi Moses Maimonides) wrote in 12th century Egypt that the highest form of teshuvah is being in the same or a similar situation and acting differently. And yet here we are again. And again. And again.
It gives me pride to be in community that is full of people willing to persist at being change agents and prophetic voices despite a seemingly immutable situation. To continue to work for change when decades go by without much of it, it can be easy to feel hopeless. And yet we act.
As we “return” this season, may we collectively find the strength, courage, creativity, will, and support to do something different for a change.
Shabbat shalom… and shanah tovah u'metukah!
R’ David
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