WELCOMING THE NEW YEAR AT A DIFFICULT TIME

To put it bluntly, the last few years have been very difficult. Certainly, many of us have celebrated simchas (joyful occasions) but even those moments have often been mixed with anxiety. Now we arrive at a new Jewish year, and many of us are meeting it with grief, worry, and fatigue. We long to celebrate with optimism, yet the mood feels anything but celebratory. Yet for this very reason, being together at this time may be exactly what we need.

The Jewish New Year is not like other New Year celebrations. It is not a night of horns, glitter, fireworks, and champagne. Certainly, we hope for a sweet year. Our symbols—apples dipped in honey, sweet round raisin challahs, and wine—speak to that. But they are muted symbols, reminders that our New Year is primarily about reflection and renewal, serious work rooted in memory, responsibility, and hope. They affirm that what we are celebrating is the sweetness of life itself, even when it is difficult.

One of the great privileges and responsibilities of my work for our congregation is to set the tone for reflection and renewal. This year, I have chosen to lean deeply into the question of what it really means to celebrate life itself.

My approach will be both distinctly Jewish and distinctly humanistic, an affirmation that as Humanistic Jews we do not gather to implore the heavens to change us, but rather to accept the task of changing ourselves and our world.

Jewish tradition echoes this even in the Torah itself. "Lo bashamayim hi—it is not in heaven." This verse in the Torah continues by reminding us that it is as near to us as our own mouths and hearts. For us, this means that responsibility for life and how we live it resides entirely within us. We honor life by living with integrity, compassion, and courage; by deepening community; and by refusing to surrender our agency to despair.

Our services and my talks will reflect this focus on life affirmed and life shared:

• Erev Rosh Hashanah: Why Be Jewish? A High Holiday Reflection on Belonging, Resilience, and Joy. I'll reflect on how centuries of shared history, culture, and memory continue to give meaning to being Jewish today.

• Rosh Hashanah Morning: The Spiritual Gifts of Humanistic Judaism. I'll talk about how our way of being Jewish provides us with real, this-worldly spiritual gifts, of moral clarity, community, ritual, and meaning

• Erev Yom Kippur / Kol Nidrei: As We Write Our Book of Life. A reflection on certain Humanistic Jewish truths about life, love, and legacy, and how they can guide us in the year ahead.

• Yom Kippur Morning: Keeping Our Compass: What Judaism and Humanism Teach About Change. I'll reflect on what there is in humanistic and Jewish thought that can guide us in staying true to our values while embracing the changes life demands.

(You can find dates, times, streaming links and other details at this link or just go back to our home page.)

The point of our Jewish celebration of the new year is not to forget the world for a night, but to remember what makes life worthy. If our celebration feels challenging, let it be honest and filled with purpose.

Gathering to affirm life—even in a difficult year—is sacred to us in a deeply human sense; made precious by our commitments to the world and to the people we love.