Chaverim y'karim - dear friends,

Sometimes, when there is so much to say, I am left in silence.

The determination of the Israeli military focus and its impact these past several weeks has been remarkable and I can only pray that quiet will come soon but only once Israel is able to re-establish its deterrence and please God, allow for the return of its residents to its southern and northern borders. It is impossible to imagine living away from home for a year ... such has been the case for roughly 200,000 internally-displaced Israelis on account of this year-long war.

Somehow, on Wednesday evening, we will need to bring in the New Year. With Israeli soldiers on the borders, with Israeli families missing loved ones (as hostages, as those who fell of October 7th, as those who died in the ensuing months due to fighting, injury, mental peril caused by the devastation). And of course, with our own stories and realities which we face as individuals, as families, as American Jews.

But actually - that is precisely what we do. I heard a great quote this past week from someone who said that the best response in Jewish life when others come to take away our people and our Judaism is to live even deeper and harder into Judaism and the Jewish people. I think many of us have done exactly that over this past year - and with the New Year's arrival, we have a chance to gather, as a community, to offer prayers, to study, to reconnect with one another, to enjoy some apples and honey, to just be: unabashedly Jewish.

I hope our members and guests will come as often as they are able. If you can only come for one of our services (see full schedule here), then do so. If you can only come for part of one of our services, then do so. Find a moment, a time, a service, a study that can be a point of connection. Whether it is all of our offerings or only one, it will be wonderful to be together.

I want to share a few links:

A dear friend, Dr. Rani Yaeger, who teaches at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, just sent me a YouTube video in which he is discussing prayer. I have shared some of his teaching this past year and he is one of the dearest people I know. Have a look at this three-minute video: "I can't live without prayer."

This past weekend, I was strengthened and humbled by five Israelis who spent a Shabbat with my wife's community. We had them for Shabbat dinner in our home and then on Saturday evening for a program at my wife's shul in Springfield. You can view the conversation with Members of K'far Azza from September 28 (begins 34:20) and get a sense of their experience both on that fateful day in October and where they are now. Before their presentation there was havdalah and afterwards a lovely Selichot service.

Lastly, you may recall that I had the great honor to serve as a moderator for a Conversation with Ayaan Hirsi Ali on September 23 (begins at 14:15). She is a remarkable woman for a thousand reasons and in this discussion, you will learn a conversation that ranges from her personal story, to Holocaust education to why this moment in Western civilization is so fraught for us - particularly as Jews.

I look forward to shaking hands, singing together, hearing the shofar, tossing bread crumbs into the Housatonic, building the sukkah (donuts provided), exploring sacred texts, struggling with meanings of forgiveness, and embracing our heritage together.

As always, if you have questions, comments, disagreements (imagine that!), reflections ... reach out. In the meantime, I am wishing you and all in your circle of life and love good health, joy, strength, and peace of body and soul in the New Year.

L'shalom v'shanah tovah,

Rabbi Mark Cohn

rabbicohn@tsholom.org 

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