It is often the case that the coming of a new year brings a sense of closure to past challenges, with the promise of fresh starts ahead. That is not how this new year feels.
In fact, we arrive at Rosh Hashanah in the middle of so many important, pressing challenges. The war in Ukraine continues with no end in sight, and the toll of human suffering and trauma grows. Though we have brought 3000 new olim from Ethiopia in the past year, the civil war and other threats there make further assistance essential. Our LiveSecure campaign to build professional security initiatives in every community, led by the Federation and covering every single Jewish institution, is making great progress. We now have 103 professionally run community security initiatives, with over 40 starting up in just the past year, but we have many more communities yet to cover. Our support for the effort to free Evan Gershkovich from a Russian prison has succeeded in keeping his story prominent and on the top of our government’s priorities, but Evan remains in prison without a date set for release. And of course, the political turmoil in Israel continues as well.
So, if this Rosh Hashanah does not provide us with a natural transition point in our work, let us use the time to reflect with gratitude on all that our community has done and continues to do to support Jews in need at home and around the world.
A delegation of Jewish Federation leaders recently went to Ukraine and saw, firsthand, what it means to give a teenager growing up in a war zone a brief respite at a summer camp, what it means to bring the Jewish community together for Shabbat and holidays despite almost nightly bombings, and how vital the food, medicine, heat and other supplies are that we are helping to provide.
Another delegation recently went to Ethiopia and saw firsthand the support we are providing the community there, and also checked in on those we have already helped go to Israel to see how they are doing. Yet another delegation – this time from our National Young Leadership Cabinet – went to the U.S. Capitol to continue our lobbying efforts to increase the funding of the Non-Profit Security Grant Program, a program that is bringing hundreds of millions dollars each year into our communities to pay for vital security infrastructure.
And, of course, every Federation has launched a campaign or initiative to meet the changing demographics and needs of its community, whether it is building out where the population is moving or reaching out to our newest and least connected community members.
The well known, penultimate verse of the book of Eicha (Lamentations) calls out to us:
הֲשִׁיבֵ֨נוּ ה' ׀ אֵלֶ֙יךָ֙ (ונשוב) [וְֽנָשׁ֔וּבָה] חַדֵּ֥שׁ יָמֵ֖ינוּ כְּקֶֽדֶם׃
Hashiveinu adoshem alecha v’nashuvah chadesh yameinu k’kedem.
When we chant Eicha on Tisha B’av, we repeat this verse at the end of the chanting so that it is the last thing we chant. The same verse found its way into our liturgy both daily (at the end of the Torah service) and on the High Holidays (in the Shma Koleinu prayer).
Notice we haven’t translated it yet. A very common translation is “Return us unto you O Lord and we shall return, renew our days as of old.” But we saw a more contemporary version we love – “Turn us toward you Adonai and we will return to you; make our days seem fresh as they once were.”
What a wonderful aspiration for the New Year of 5784! Even where the work of the new year is a continuation of the last, let us embrace it with fresh eyes and fresh energy, to see in it the opportunity to be the best of what we have been in the past and to add new achievements to our collective efforts on behalf of the Jewish people and the world.
On behalf of all the officers and professionals at the Jewish Federations of North America, we wish you and your loved ones a happy, healthy, sweet, safe and peaceful New Year. We look forward to working together in 5784.