Five Principles of Hope for the New Year

Each year, I look forward to the month of Ellul, a month of reflection and correction. I love the selichot (penitential prayers) services – the melodies, the words of hope and even the compulsory admissions of sin and the harsh admonitions. As I prepare for the New Year, I am usually filled with anticipation. The year to come can be better – I can do better and the world can be better.

But maintaining my optimism this year is very difficult. Although I am still trying to focus on my infinitesimal yet meaningful place in creation, and the opportunity I have to do just a tiny bit towards bettering the world, I have a sense of circumstances around me overwhelming my efforts. For the first time in my life, I have found myself questioning the very basis of the choices I have made – the belief that we were moving out of darkness towards light and that each year will be better than the one preceding it. I hold onto that belief by a thin thread – thin but strong.

I am writing this post to talk myself out of a feeling of doom and to reclaim hope As a person of faith, I believe that the prophetic visions will eventually be fulfilled. The downturn must be temporary. I wait for it to be over. I want to understand what we need to do to emerge again.

I wonder where we – all of humanity and the Jewish people in particular – have gone wrong. Why is there such a strong resurgence of the extreme right and the antisemitism which is a core characteristic of it? Why has this scourge infected our people, too? Why are not the values of human dignity, freedom, justice and kindness, which were central to the post-World War 2 discourse, of the highest priority and pursued with vigor? What has happened to the generations educated after the Shoah that they so misunderstand “Never again” and take it as a call to arms rather than a call to undo the very causes of conflict?

Exactly one year ago, I was in Melbourne, Australia, for the major fund-raising event of the Holocaust Museum there. Half the evening, orators spoke about the achievements of the Museum – the large numbers of visitors, included school children, who have been exposed to the excellent exhibitions and educational programs. The other half of the program spoke of the fear of the Australian Jewish community about the rise of antisemitism.

That night, I asked myself how those two things went together. Three months later, the Bondi Massacre proved which of the directions was more powerful.

As someone who devoted most of her life to education, I am now questioning whether our educational principles of the 1970s and 1980s were correct. We believed that we could make children compassionate and open to the other through modeling good behavior and by exposing them, at the right age, to the history of the evils human beings have done, giving them the tools to avoid the same errors. But the generations educated in that era are now leading extreme right or extreme left movements around the world. They are the enablers of terrorists, the espousers of racism and antisemitism, the haters who reject a path of peace.

And here, in the place where Jews are supposed to be able to find not just safe refuge but also a sense of identification and purpose, why is there extremism here?

I came to Israel in order to live a fully Jewish life and find myself in a political environment which is as far from Jewish values as one can imagine. While civil society exemplifies the very best of humanity, our institutions of power have sunk to the lowest level, beset by hate-filled language, divisiveness, ineffectiveness and even corruption.

I find myself asking frequently, “How can they be so blind?” How can it be that so many do not see what I see? How could intelligent and humane Israelis have allowed our democracy to become so degraded? Why is there so little understanding that democracy is essentially about protecting the weak in society and giving them a voice? It is not about power, it is about responsibility.

How can I be a beacon, or at least a small spark, to promote real Jewish values and support those who are working hard for principles of democracy, human rights and the dignity of the human person, as taught in the Torah?

Precisely here, in my frustration, is where I take hope because I can still respond to what I understand my Judaism to be – a call to action. I have to call out the wrongs, I have to spread the word, I have to amplify the voices of reason – of justice and of peace. I am forbidden to “stand idly by” and I was created to do what I can do.

Education has failed; social media has added to the confusion. But all is not lost. Most people are good people. All our children deserve a better future. With optimism and hope, we can give it to them.

So, as we enter the new year, let me state clearly five values which have guided me this year and which I will pursue with even more vigor in the year to come. Each of them is to be found in the prayers we will recite over the High Holy Days, reflecting the most sacred principles of our faith.

1. I am not powerless. The Divine breath is in me, as it is in every human being. I was created in order to make a difference. I may not waste my life.
2. It is a huge privilege to live in the Land of Israel, a Land which nobody can own and which cannot tolerate corruption or cruelty. We have been warned that the Land can “vomit” us out. We can lose our privilege to be here if we breach the covenant.
3. The return to the Land has presented us with challenges that the Torah predicted and for which it provides guidance. This includes how we pursue peace with our neighbors and how we treat “the stranger within our gates.” The Declaration of Independence is a beautiful re-statement of Torah values and we need to reclaim it.
4. Self-reflection, awareness of our flaws and a commitment to improve – to repent – is required for every individual and for our people as a whole. Sometimes our critics, even our enemies, can hold up a mirror for us to help us see our faults. We should not run away from criticism or retaliate but use it for good, to improve.
5. The people of Israel in their land are supposed to be a “light unto the nations.” Our society is supposed to be a model of justice, compassion, honesty and the pursuit of peace. Nobody who spurns these values should be allowed to hold any position of authority. I am more convinced than ever that early in this new year, we need to have a governmental overhaul and elect only people who put values ahead of power and who are inspired by a vision of peace and justice. It really is in our hands.

Shanah tova.