Shana tova!
October 7th falls this year between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, during Aseret Y’mei T’shuvah (the Ten Days of Repentance). Last year it fell after the Yamim Noraim (High Holidays), at the end of Sukkot, on the 22nd of Tishrei which is the holiday of Sh’mini Atzeret/Simchat Torah.
Each of us likely remembers where we were and what we were doing on that dreadful day last year, a day and subsequent year that witnessed barbaric atrocities perpetrated against Am Yisrael by a depraved evil enemy, coupled with a tsunami of unhinged and pathological Jew/Israel hatred unleashed upon our people in Israel, here in NY, across the USA, and around the world.
Now, one year later, we are back here in shul together for the Yamim Noraim, now with the memories, aftermath, and ramifications of October 7th in mind. Among the many fallout questions that have come my way, one asks how we can joyously celebrate holidays and life-cycle events in the wake of October 7th (including the hostage situation, the precarious situation in Israel, and the spiraling IDF death count). One response reminds us to be grateful as we see things in perspective. We are not living during those centuries of exile when we were at the mercy of the foreign places we sojourned. We are grateful that today we are back home in the strong, independent, reconstituted Jewish State of Israel where goodness and heroism abound. Let us not take this for granted nor squander this miraculous gift.
Another inspiring response has come from many victims’ families who have heartfeltly spoken out about the importance of Jewish life and continuity, highlighting the fine line between their own private and personal circumstances and feelings, as distinct from the larger Jewish picture, the greater Jewish good. While Jewish life has always embraced both the personal and the communal, with a delicate and wise balance between them, indeed our survival as a people has prioritized the peoplehood, the nationhood. That is how we have been able to overcome and outlive all the enmities and calamities we’ve always faced. Our unique way of life, myriad rituals and observances, and steadfast allegiance to God, Torah, and Israel — all of these affirm the central role each of us as individual Jews plays in the ongoing story of our people, while at the same time they all figure larger than each of us, outlasting each of us, and assuring our people’s eternity. Thus, by valuing the larger picture and our place in it, we are all enabled to fulfill the mitzvah of living the gamut of fully Jewish lives always. When some are personally pained at a particular time, we personally and communally comfort them – while at the same time fervently observing and joyously celebrating Jewish living with the whole House of Israel. With all the pain and loss we suffer, we also celebrate our righteous causes and victories.
That’s what we are doing here this year, as it has been for every year past and must be for every year to come. This is our inspiration, our comfort, our vision, our purpose, our unity, the substance of our very existence. This is how we can at all times say with sincerity, pride and conviction:
אשרינו מה טוב חלקינו ומה נעים גורלינו ומה יפה ירושתינו
Ashreynu, ma tov chelkeynu, uma na’im goraleynu, uma yafa y’rushateynu.
We are happy and fortunate! How good is our portion, how pleasant is our destiny, how beautiful is our heritage!
Especially during these Awesome Holy Days, during which time we seriously contemplate the existential realities, vicissitudes, and practicalities of life and death, Judaism reminds us to recognize and be grateful for all the goodness we have in our lives — to be happy with our good fortune. With October 7th and its aftermath still on our minds and in our hearts, just as it is always so with our entire history and destiny, I ask Adonai’s blessing for all of us as we join together to observe these Yamim Noraim with thankfulness for our peoplehood and for our good fortune — Ashreynu!
One means of manifesting appreciation for our portion, our destiny, and our heritage is to summon the courage and wherewithal to engage in honest and purposeful self evaluation in order to self improve. There’s no better ‘place’ to engage in this sacred endeavor on these sacred days than among your kehillah, your family, your people. May we always be there for each other, may we share in our enthusiasm and reverence for our tradition, creativity, and continuity, and may each of us, the Ashreynu community, and our entire people, be blessed with a meaningful and fruitful year of טוב, חיים, ושלום — goodness, life, and peace.
G’mar chatima tova. And Am Yisrael chai!
Rabbi Jonathan Pearl