Happy Gregorian New Year, folks. The Mishnah tells us there are four Jewish New Years during the course of a single calendar year (though five if you honor both sides of the Hillel/Shammai debate about the New Year of the Trees!). And yet as Jews in today’s world, we have at least another honored by every device we use, organization we associate with, and government we live under – the Gregorian New Year.
As with other Jewish new years, perhaps there is some ritual you take part in to mark this passage of time, this counting forward. There might be foods, candles, customs, particular people, etc. that you partake in, and I want to wish you a belated Shana tovah of sorts as we mark this transition.
And in the Torah reading, there is also a transition this week – the Book of Genesis comes to a close this Shabbat and we turn the page, or roll the scroll, as the case may be, into the Book of Exodus which we begin reading in the week to come. One tradition for marking such a transition is with the phrase: chazak chazak v’nitchazek – which can be translated to “from strength to strength we will be made stronger,” or “be strong, be strong, and we will be strengthened.”
There is a lot afoot at Kadima in 2026, and indeed, may it be so that collectively, we will go from strength to strength. With our ability to imagine what strengths are possible and our actions toward it, may we indeed create strong community for us all ahead, and may we also find space to reflect on our strengths we have shown in the past.
May we all find a bit more strength this shabbat and beyond,
R’ David
As with other Jewish new years, perhaps there is some ritual you take part in to mark this passage of time, this counting forward. There might be foods, candles, customs, particular people, etc. that you partake in, and I want to wish you a belated Shana tovah of sorts as we mark this transition.
And in the Torah reading, there is also a transition this week – the Book of Genesis comes to a close this Shabbat and we turn the page, or roll the scroll, as the case may be, into the Book of Exodus which we begin reading in the week to come. One tradition for marking such a transition is with the phrase: chazak chazak v’nitchazek – which can be translated to “from strength to strength we will be made stronger,” or “be strong, be strong, and we will be strengthened.”
There is a lot afoot at Kadima in 2026, and indeed, may it be so that collectively, we will go from strength to strength. With our ability to imagine what strengths are possible and our actions toward it, may we indeed create strong community for us all ahead, and may we also find space to reflect on our strengths we have shown in the past.
May we all find a bit more strength this shabbat and beyond,
R’ David
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