02/10/2024
Jewish New Year
We sit here reading last year's words—greetings, wishes, hopes. Do we laugh bitterly or cry? The truth is, almost none of those wishes came true. They now feel like echoes from a different world, a different era.
In Hebrew, we say every year:
"תכלה שנה וקללותיה, תחל שנה וברכותיה"
"May this year and its curses End, and may the new year and its blessings Begin."
This year, this wish has never felt more urgent, more real, more accurate.
But what do we wish for now?
A better year? That's easy—we can’t imagine a worse one.
Our requests this year are humble:
- May the hostages return to their families.
- May they find healing and solace.
- May the evacuees across Israel return to their homes, homes that still stand.
- May all our soldiers come back healthy and safe.
- May our thousands of wounded soldiers recover.
- May our wounded nation heal—mentally, physically, emotionally.
- May the families of soldiers finally have a night of restful sleep, after a year filled with sleepless nights.
- May we dance again.
We would be content with just that, but they say this is a time of grace, a time when the gates of heaven are open. So, we dare to ask for more:
- May we find unity in our fractured society.
- May our nation open her eyes and start hilling and fixing itself from within.
- May we breathe, eat, and sleep properly again.
- May we never surrender to evil.
- May the world finally understand.
- May Jews everywhere feel safe.
- May Non Jews feel safe everywhere
- my good overcome evil
- may the silent majority of good and decent people be heard.
- May they raise their voice.
- May the tourists return.
- May the world accept us as equals in the family of nations.
- May we know right from wrong.
- May we see the complexity of colors and shades.
- May we remember there are innocent people on the other side too.
- May we feel and understand our neighbors better.
- May our children never hear sirens, never face rockets, never know bomb shelters, never experience Terror.
- May they never need to go to war.
- May there come a time when there’s no need for an army.
- May our headlines be filled with stories about a whale washed ashore, not war and tragedy.
- May our children never fully grasp the horrors of October 7th.
- May the survivors rebuild, create families, and find joy again.
- May we sit peacefully under our fig trees and grapevines.
- May we know peace.
- May we continue seeking peace.
- May we eliminate all forms of extremism.
- May we love and be loved.
- May we laugh with all our body and soul again.
- May we finally know quiet.
- May we remember what truly matters in life.
- May we remain grateful for the simple things: family, friends, community, health, meaning, and joy.
- May we appreciate the gifts and blessings in our lives.
- May we feel happiness while it's happening, not only in retrospect.
- May we remember.
- May we also forget.
- May we keep striving to improve ourselves.
- May we feel at peace with who we are.
- May we meet again soon, here in Israel and across the globe.
- May this year be far better than the last.
Lastly, let’s not forget the important and meaningful lessons we’ve learned this year:
- We are stronger than we thought.
- We are more united than we realized.
- We are a nation of superheroes.
- We are sad but not broken.
- We are grieving but not hopeless.
- We can be joyful and sad, cheerful and sorrowful at the same time.
- we can live with this dissonance.
- We must live with this dissonance.
- We have a strong homeland.
- We have strong communities, friendships, and families.
- We know right from wrong.
- We have values worth fighting for.
- Together we stand, divided we fall.
- We are also more fragile than we believed—and that’s okay.
- We are far from being perfect. And that's o.k.
- The passion, strength, and spirit in this country are unparalleled.
- this is the most fun-oriented, life-seeking, fast-lane and
living-life-to-its-fullest country I can think of.
- We can support our people around the world, and we are grateful for their support.
- We share an identity, a story, a history, a DNA, a tribe, and a nation in ways we never fully understood before.
Shana Tova to all of you.
We send our wishes, greetings, hugs, tears, and love from afar
Nitsan, yoav, yonatan , Ruth and Avigail