Three years ago today, on October 7, 2023, the Jewish people experienced our deadliest day since the Holocaust.
We remember those who were murdered and taken hostage. We remember the families shattered, the communities attacked, and the extraordinary courage of Israelis who ran toward danger to save other lives.
The Torah commands us Zachor — remember. As Elie Wiesel explained: “Without memory, there is no culture. Without memory, there would be no civilization, no society, no future.”
In Judaism, memory is not an archive. It is an assignment. It has a to-do list.
And Never Again requires us to transform memory into action.
That means standing against Antisemitism wherever it appears.
It means not waiting for the world to protect Jewish lives because that wait has always ended in Jewish tragedy.
And it means affirming the right of the Jewish people to live with sovereignty and security in our ancient homeland.
Our commitment to Israel’s survival doesn’t mean we don’t want peace. A secure Israel and a peaceful tomorrow have always been among our deepest prayers.
Of course we care about the world. Hillel described our obligation to both particularism and universalism: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, what am I?”
I take that command to heart. Before I became a rabbi, I spent decades as a civil rights lawyer and advocate fighting for the dignity and equality of others. That commitment remains central to my Judaism.
At the same time, I embrace the wisdom of Ecclesiastes: “To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.”
During the seasons of our life when Jewish survival is at stake, devoting more to our survival – including the survival of Israel – is not a rejection of our responsibilities to others. It is what makes those responsibilities possible.
If we are to repair the world, we must be in it.
How does my synagogue, The Reform Temple of Rockland in Nyack, New York, answer this season? We increase Jewish joy through concrete action to defy a post-October 7 world.
That’s what our cantor and I aim to do when we work to infuse our services with excitement and relevance.
That’s what our choir and band members do when they bring music to services that transports the souls of us all.
That’s what our Board, committees and professional staff do when they plan programs that capture the stunning scope of Jewish peoplehood.
And that’s what our teachers do when they fill our classrooms with engaging pedagogy that reaches Jewish children on their own meaningful terms.
All this, no doubt, is how October 7 challenged Jewish leaders around the world to invigorate Jewish life anew. In Judaism, darkness never gets the final word. Three years later, the Jewish people are still here.
We remember. We pray. We rebuild. We sing.
And so help us God, we will never forget to dance with joy.
Rabbi Steven Goldstein, leader of a Reform synagogue in metro New York City, is a passionate Zionist and lifelong civil rights advocate. A lawyer who worked for the US House and Senate, and a former television news producer with 10 Emmy Awards, he is the author of the HarperCollins book "The Turn-On: How the Powerful Make Us Like Them."
