The Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashana, begins Monday evening, September 6, marking the year 5782.
This period in the calendar is a time of reflection and introspection. We review the past year, and look ahead to the next. Last year, I wrote “I hope the coming year allows a return to increased personal interactions, without masks hiding our facial expressions.”
Like many of us, I had high hopes. I have missed being able to see those members of my family who live overseas, including one who only knows us via video-chat software, and we have only seen our west coast family too briefly in June.
A year and a half after COVID-19 restrictions began, how many of us thought we would be seeing infection rates rise again? Who thought it would take a year and a half before vaccines became mandatory to enter many workplaces and schools and places of worship? That vaccine hesitancy would continue to be based on misinformation being shared and amplified on social media?
As we move toward a second year of live-streamed synagogue services, I continue to hope that you are inscribed for a year marked by good health, by personal and professional growth, and a year of peace for all of us.
לשנה טובה תכתבו ותחתמו