One Year Later

One Year Later

In sitting down to write this column, I peeked back at what I’d written last September.  How different the world was.  I’d just returned from my Sabbatical in Israel and I reflected on the use of the shofar in Israelis’ protests against the proposed judicial reform.  We had no idea what last year’s holiday season would bring… what we would awake to on October 7, 2023.

As we approach these sacred days once again, we do so with a sense of nervous anticipation, perhaps of dread.  What will it be like to remember, even as the trauma beats on?  Will our brothers and sisters in Israel be able to celebrate this year, beneath the clouds of war and sirens and threats from Iran?  What will October 7, 2024 feel like?  What will Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur be like?  Will Sukkot and Simchat Torah feel joyous this year… or ever?

We all carry all of this with us as we head toward a new year.  And I want to reassure you:  we will celebrate, and we will also commemorate. 

There are a few specific opportunities to mark this somber first anniversary:

1. Tuesday evening, September 17, you (if you’re 18 or older) are invited to attend a community screening of Sheryl Sandberg’s “Screams Before Silence” at TCS, Westport.  I will participate in the panel discussion to follow.
2. Saturday night, September 28, at 7:45pm, you are invited to participate in a community Selichot service, to be held at TCS in Westport. This year, we are joining together with a different combination of congregations: TCS Westport, B’nai Israel and Rodeph Sholom in Bridgeport, and Or Hadash in Fairfield.  We’ll enter into the High Holiday season together through song and prayer, incorporating prayers for peace in Israel and its environs.
3. Sunday, October 6, 12pm (7pm Israel time), the worldwide Conservative/Masorti Movement will host a commemoration of healing and reflection on the eve of the first yahrzeit.  Watch your CBE email for details to come.
4. Yom Kippur falls on October 12 this year, just 5 days after the 7^th.  Our martyrology and Yizkor service will incorporate a remembrance of those murdered on and since October 7, and as always, prayers for the return of all remaining hostages.

On the celebration front, friends, I hope you will plan to be here for 3 wonderfully uplifting events:

1. Challah braiding with the Challah Prince, Idan Chabasov—Sunday afternoon, September 15.  If you haven’t looked up his stuff on YouTube, do it right now.  And then register!
2. Sukkot Brunch with comedian Joel Chasnoff, Sunday morning, October 20.  We always need a good laugh on the way out of the High Holiday season, and Joel will no doubt provide that for us.
3. And finally, don’t miss the chance to celebrate our Chatan Torah and Kallat Breishit on Simchat Torah, David Hirshfield and Sylvia Schulman.  We will dance again on Simchat Torah.  And we will honor these dedicated leaders.

No doubt we are each balancing a lot right now—personally, Jewishly, and globally—and I truly look forward to spending this sacred season together.

Rabbi Ita Paskind