Happy New Year

Dear Friends:

This week, Jews observe two holidays, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, that together constitute what is known as the High Holidays, which usher in the Jewish New Year. At this time of year, so important in the Jewish calendar, I would like to address my best wishes to all of you, both Jewish and non-Jewish, and express some thoughts relating to the holidays.

The High Holiday period is a time of both reflection and solemnity as well as of hope and renewal. Unfortunately, I feel that a pall seems to be settling over the holidays this year, resulting in a collective sense of despair and gloom.

A prayer recited during services, the Kaddish, mourns the loss of loved ones. Though originally intended to mourn a personal loss, many congregations recite this haunting prayer for the countless victims of mass violence. While congregations used to consider the Kaddish as a memorial to victims of the Holocaust, the list has expanded to victims of more recent tragedies, those killed on September 11^th and Oct 7^th. These brutal murders occurred during our lifetimes; they are not distant stories.

The recent rise of antisemitism has made us all, Jews and non-Jews, aware of the dangers we face. I believe we all hold an image in our heads that encapsulates the horrors around us. For me, it is the faces of those adorable Bibas children. What haunts me is not their beautiful, innocent faces per se but the video I’ve seen of teenagers gleefully pulling down posters of them along with posters of other hostages. What does this demonstrate? More than antisemitism, more than ignorance, more than hatred, more than the smugness and self-righteousness of jumping on a bandwagon of snappy catchphrases. I see it as the deterioration of basic decency. It is heartbreaking and frightening.

There is so much stupidity underlying events today that one does not know where to begin. Boycotting Ralph Lauren (who is proudly Jewish) because he hired Israeli actress Gal Gadot for an ad campaign; boycotting Adidas for featuring an Israeli IDF soldier who lost a leg in battle to advertise one-shoe sales followed by Adidas bowing to the pressure of antisemites who loudly objected to this; mainstream publishers refusing to publish Jewish authors or books with Jewish or Israeli characters or viewpoints; bookstores that regularly host interviews and signings with authors refusing to carry books by Jewish authors who have expressed Zionist beliefs and cancelling events with these authors; Israelis being refused service in establishments throughout Europe; Jews being attacked in streets; synagogues being vandalized; the word “Zionist” becoming a slur; Jews in politics and academia facing demands to disown Zionism as a litmus test for acceptance, Boy George being fired from a show because of the song he sang supporting Israel, Jews worrying about wearing Jewish star jewelry in public. The list of stupidity goes on. In addition, we cannot count on any news source for objective truth. Even the New York Times, a study has discovered, has downplayed and omitted Israeli casualties in its reporting while highlighting Gaza casualties.

To add to our despair, we receive reports of ‘celebrities’ who have fallen for Hamas propaganda and are using their celebrity to broadcast their misguided views of a brutal, terrorist gang. Being exposed to this over and over, on the internet and on television, reinforces our despair.

Something to remember about the Jewish New Year is that we are encouraged to not only look back but to face forward, to repent and vow to improve—ourselves and, hopefully, the world. So as part of this attitude, we must appreciate the glimmers of hope, those ‘celebrities’ who embrace and speak the truth about Israel. I am thinking of Bill Maher, Van Jones, Pink, Boy George, Jerry Seinfeld, Debra Messing, Mayim Bialik, David Schwimmer, Quentin Tarantino, among others. The supporters of truth are out there.

We can also feel encouraged by the actions of several Jewish editors, disgusted with the way Jewish authors and Jewish-themed books are being excluded and blacklisted. These editors have recently established new publishing houses that will accept and publish those books and authors rejected for their ‘evil Zionist’ associations. In other words, they are building and creating as an answer to rejection and censorship. This is an amazing act of defiance and love, reminiscent of the creation of Jewish hospitals back when Jewish doctors (those few accepted into medical schools) would not be hired by other hospitals and when Jewish patients were treated badly. These hospitals, built by the Jewish community, dedicated themselves to accepting people of all faiths, refusing to treat others as they had been treated.

My hopeful conclusion is that the answer to our depression over the situation today can be the resilience and the bond of community that the above examples demonstrate. Perhaps this can be the essence of the High Holidays, to lift ourselves out of despair and fear by pride and purpose, pushing us to build and create, build and create, build and create, thus continuing the pattern of our heritage.

That is the hope I extend to all of you in this holiday season. Jewish or non-Jewish. I wish you all a happy and healthy New Year, one filled with light and joy.

Ruth