The High Holy Days always seem to come on so quickly, don’t they? One minute we’re stepping into spring sunshine dreaming of lazy summer days, and then, so abruptly, we hear the sound of the shofar snapping us to.
For Jews, this is the time of repentance or, as it is so much better rendered in Hebrew, of teshuvah or “turning.”
Next week, we are commanded to turn again to our better selves, to dig deep and right the wrongs we committed over the year. It is perhaps the most important work we do as Jews. Clearly, self-improvement is a dominant gene in our religious DNA.
With the Days of Awe upon us, we cannot help but take a look back on the year just concluded. These last 12 months certainly posed tremendous challenges to the Jewish community, both here and abroad.
The still-ailing economy took a terrible toll on Bay Area Jewish institutions, with layoffs and budget cuts causing widespread pain. Not only have we seen alarming cuts in staff and some programming, but demand for Jewish social services has risen, causing a double squeeze on resources.
In terms of the civic debate over issues of concern to the Jewish community, lingering tensions continue to plague us.
The S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation issued important guidelines for its grantees, setting limits on how far one can go in terms of criticism of Israel. Not everyone is happy with them but they were a necessary outcome of that debate.
We also persisted in the ongoing battle against BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) against Israel. This battle opened up on three main fronts: college campuses, such as U.C. Berkeley, local city councils, and some mainline Protestant churches.
We got lucky this year, with every single BDS proposal beaten back. But as former Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey said, “Luck is the residue of design.” The battle continues.
And of course, we watched in agony as the Gaza flotilla disaster played out and as Iran continued to strut on the nuclear stage. Then again, hopes rise as Israel and the Palestinians open up direct talks for the first time in nearly two years.
Every year brings its agonies and its ecstasies. What lies around the corner for us as a community, we shall discover soon enough.
But for now, we set those concerns aside to gather in our houses of prayer and greet the new year with hope and bright spirits.
We wish all of our readers and advertisers a shanah tovah.