This is a time for introspection. What have I or we done right this year and what could we improve? Do we regret any action or inaction and could we have chosen other words?
The answer, I believe, is a definite yes but as for me, I am not sorry that I spoke up, called out for reform and called people to task. Would I have loved to do more? Of course, but life does not always give us what we want. We need to build on what has gone before, and always, hopefully, in the right direction.
I have spoken or written before of my fears of the rising anti Semitism, the violence it has chosen, the vehemence of its poison, and the most shocking, the growth of this in young people and the aid and abetting of it by young Jews themselves who do not understand that anti Semitism includes all Jews, open or not, and there is no escape or running away, no matter what name you call it. It therefore behooves all of us to remember that we, as Jews, need to remember that we are one and the difference in our customs, be it via country or via religious sect and observance should not divide us.
Not only that, but our history and our books, our very religion, urges us, tells us, commands us to fix the world, to help others - the widow, the orphan, to give charity and to be kind to the stranger in our midst. We are to chase after justice, not let it slide by, ignored. As such, we should be in the foremost of every charitable association and on the donor lists of disasters and food pantries. It should make us proud that Israel as a country is often the 'firstest with the mostest' to disaster areas and are already on the way to the disaster that is now the Caribbean.
And we, as Jews, need to know that we must support Israel. Yes, she has made errors in judgement as have many other sovereign nations, but the main point is that she remain sovereign, the only Jewish state, the only state where the Jews are eternally welcome, not chased out or burnt out or killed or slaughtered. It should not be made into a 'hip' or cool thing to knock down fellow Jews with a kippah on or a Jewish star, or who support Israel. It is not cool, not the right thing and not the right way to protest and we must remember that until one is living there, accepting the risks and the responsibilities, that one needs to temper one's judgements.
Most of all, as a woman who is Jewish, as a woman who feels that women have often been denied and even ignored in some aspects of Judaism, that the recognition of women as equal partners must happen. We must be treated with respect be it at a meting or at the Kotel, the Wall. Mind you, the secular world needs to learn this too and not try to outtalk and overtalk women as well. I am so proud of these younger women who have forced the issue and become rabbinical representatives and the men who support them. Kol Hakovod - kudos to you.
As for the world - what a better place it would be if we realized that we indeed do share this planet, this spinning orb and we had better do right by it or it will do wrong by us. Enough with the hypocrisy, the avoidance of responsibility. Enough with the sovereignty as it runs rampant over others. Enough with the hypocrisy of business and government. Let the United States be once again the moral and values leader of the world rather than the one threatening to blow it up. Let us talk honestly and openly. We are all mankind and unlike the movies there are no alien ships with wise sages who will come to teach us a better way or warn us of impending doom unless we change. We can realize that ourselves - and have to help ourselves.
Today, in Mexico, after a second quake, and as we watch the horrifying and stunning views of the massive hurricanes, a woman asked, "Is G-d mad at us?" I think so. I can just see Him looking down upon us and asking Himself what He has done? Maybe we can all try just that bit more?
In the meanwhile, a Shanah Tova to all of you, all of us, out there. May we know a New Year blessed by peace, by prosperity, by health, by love and happiness. See you all Sunday morning.
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