08/16/2026
Participating in all aspects of Jewish communal life should not have to be acts of great courage requiring risk assessments. Alas, we find ourselves now living with dual realities: we live in the period of a “ness” (Hebrew for miracle), living at a time when world Jewry has regained sovereignty in our homeland, something our ancestors could only dream of and pray for. These are truly miraculous times for our people. Yet, we also live with the heavy burden of confronting the worst wave of Jew hatred in decades. This is scary, unsettling, and for younger generations a completely new experience.
This weekend’s incident at Central Synagogue in Manhattan reminds us of this latter reality. To endure the wave, we must be vigilant, prepared, trained, and ready. Security volunteers and staff were ready in seconds to deal with the threat. For our congregation, this is a call to continue our greeter/usher security training, to perfect our protocols, and to collectively be aware and on guard when we gather together. It’s a difficult but necessary burden. We always need more ushers and greeters and safety support. If this is an area of interest to you, reach out.
Yes, we’re weighed down by the latter reality. But this month of Elul reminds us of the former reality as well. We blow the shofar every morning this month as a reminder of our task as the Jewish people: we must choose blessing, we must choose life, we must choose love. Our task is to build and grow and find sanctity in our daily routine and lives, and to contribute to our world. No wonder we’ve rebuilt Israel as quickly as we have. No wonder we are ever-closer to being back to our pre-Holocaust population size. This is what we do, and what a miraculous time to be alive.
Let’s pray for peace over Jerusalem (Psalm 122) — for Jerusalem itself, and for us, Jerusalem’s adherents the world over.
Rabbi Ari Isenberg
