Dear Temple Emanu-El Families,
Tonight, we begin our family journey through the Yamim Noraim, the Days of Awe, the sacred days that carry us from Rosh Hashanah through Yom Kippur.
Tonight is also September 11. Twenty-five years later, we remember a day that changed our city, our country, and so many families forever. We remember those we lost, honor those who ran toward danger to help others, and hold close the resilience of this city we call home.
Perhaps that makes the message of Rosh Hashanah even more meaningful. Even as we remember what has been, Rosh Hashanah asks us to look toward what might be.
One way to think about this season is through the life of a butterfly.
A butterfly begins in one form and, through an extraordinary process, becomes something more. Metamorphosis is the process of becoming. It is the transformation that happens as we grow, change, and discover what we have the possibility to become.
What could be more Jewish than that?
The prophet Ezekiel imagines God saying, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.” Our tradition has always believed in our capacity to change. We call it teshuvah. We can turn. We can repair. We can grow. We can become.
And perhaps that is one of the most important messages we can give our children, especially in complicated times: never stop believing in what is possible. In themselves. In one another. In our Jewish people. In the world.
Tonight, we remember. And tonight, we also begin again.
As 5787 begins, may we enter this new year with memory in our hearts, pride in who we are, joy in our children, and hope for all that we are still becoming.
Shanah Tovah U’Metukah!
Mike Witman
Senior Director of Lifelong Learning
