Looking to the New Year

We are heading into Rosh Hashanah, the new year, the season of holidays most sacred to the Jewish people.  And we do so, this year, with a very different feeling than any other year in memory.  We do so with the recognition that October 7 is just days away, a date that will forever be synonymous with terror and brutality and tragedy.

A year ago, we were readying a group of elders, some who live in Assisted Living and others who live in our nursing home, to take a 10-day mission to Israel.  It is no small feat to take older adults to Israel, particularly those who have significant medical challenges.  But it is a project we’ve undertaken before and one that we do with commitment and passion.  To see Israel through the eyes of an elder, to help them realize a dream they never thought would happen, is an extraordinary privilege.  It makes us recognize that the hard work it took to make this possible was truly a gift, truly a blessing.

To take elders to Israel requires close to a year of planning and about eight solid months of preparation.  We recruit elders, we review staff applications, and we match the elders and staff one to one.  Each elder has a staff “buddy,” who serves as their roommate and traveling companion.  We meet as a full group on a regular basis, once or twice a month, to talk about what we will do and see, to review travel plans and packing lists and to get to know one another as a team.  It is no small thing to take this journey, and we take the preparation seriously.

Last year, at Rosh Hashanah services, we spoke about the excitement of our upcoming trip.  We compared notes as to who was already packed and who hadn’t even thought it through yet.  It will come as no surprise that our elders were all packed, suitcases at the ready, passports in hand.

Our trip was set for October 23, but the world shifted on its axis on October 7 and none of us know if it will ever right itself again.  Throughout the course of this year, we have joined together with the elders we serve, with our staff, with our larger community and with the community of the world.  We have prayed and we have mourned.  We have watched in horror and helplessness as college campuses became centers for blatant and uncontrolled anti-Semitism.  We have sent letters to families and letters to peers in nursing homes in Israel.  We have baked challah in support of the hostages, and we have painted rocks with messages of love to create a memorial garden.  And, we have sung Hatikvah often and never without tears welling in our eyes.

None of us know what the year ahead will hold.  We pray that 5785 will be marked by the return of the captives, by healing and by peace. We know that our eyes have been opened in so many ways this year, realizing that our beloved land of Israel is more vulnerable than we had ever thought.  And recognizing that the anti-Semitism that we thought insignificant and limited solely to small, fringe groups is something far greater and something we must address, both as individuals and as a society.

May we hold apple slices in our hands, dip them in honey and hold the hope for a brighter year ahead, when the light of our candles will be bright enough to light the world.