09/27/2024
We Are Going To Be Okay
Article reprinted with permission from Cleveland Jewish News
Erika B. Rudin-Luria | SPECIAL TO THE CJN
I am writing this Rosh Hashanah message a month before the actual holiday knowing there is a chance that something significant (and potentially negative) will happen before this is published. Between the time I write this – and you read it – it’s possible that haters will be unmasked in disappointing but not surprising ways. That there will be more tragic loss of innocent life. That a politician or celebrity will say something offensive. This is not to minimize any such incident, but rather to recognize the world we live in right now.
As we enter this holy time of cheshbon hanefesh (accounting of the soul), there is a heightened level of clarity as we look back and ask: how did I/we do this year? How did I/we measure up?
Looking Back with Clarity
On October 7, 2023, the people of Israel and Jewish people everywhere experienced a terrorist attack that far exceeded our worst nightmares. As Jewish Cleveland has done for generations, we responded immediately to this trauma by doubling down on caring for each other here and in Israel.
During this past year, we listened and learned. We experienced hate, our humanity was questioned and our people delegitimized. We mourned and prayed together. We traveled to Israel to bear witness, to support the people, and to volunteer. We advocated and gave of ourselves.
Yes, we argued and disagreed with each other. We reached for machloket l’shem shamayim (arguments for the sake of heaven) – and achieved that most of the time.
The attacks took us back to horrors of past generations that we promised we would never allow to happen again. It caused us to turn our focus inward – not because we don’t care for innocent lives in other communities or because our values have changed. We did so because of the anguish we feel from our inability to return to October 6 and the shocking spread of public Jew hatred.
Looking Ahead to Next Year
As we pray, plan, and work towards the year to come, we consider:
What will we do to continue to care for the vulnerable?
How can we better listen to and understand friends, family, neighbors, and strangers?
Will we work together to strengthen our community despite political and other differences?
How can we fight Jew hatred, support our allies, and confront those who bully our community?
Can we reclaim the narrative about the Jewish people, the Jewish community, or people of Israel?
How do we create the community (and the world) that we want our children to live in and inherit?
As a child survivor of the October 7 attacks shared with me, nothing is simple.
And nothing is normal – there is no normal right now. But we will be okay and will move forward to better days the best way we know how – together.
Shana Tova u’metukah. Wishing you and yours a safe, healthy, sweet and happy new year.
Am Yisrael Chai.
