The cycle begins anew next week for those of our people who read the Torah in synagogue on an annual basis. Just as we invoked the Shehechiyanu blessing at the outset of the Tishrei holidays, we will do so again at their conclusion when we return again and as ever, to “In The Beginning.”
In his column last week in The CJN, Michael Diamond wrote about the resilience of the Jewish people. He emphasized the remarkable nature of this resilience in light of the longevity of the tenacious enmity directed at Jews throughout the millennia.
“To be a Jew is to aspire to lofty goals,” Diamond succinctly wrote.
Those lofty goals, of course, are the mission and purpose of Jewish life. They derive from the values and ideal that are the foundation stone our religion. With those values and the resulting goals in mind, Diamond explained our resilience.
“One thing is clear: we do not survive by accommodating, by compromising our values or by shrinking from the challenges.” This is well said by Diamond.
What needs also to be said is that it is primarily through Jewish education at school and example and reinforcement at home that our values are transmitted from one generation to the next.
The final comment however, as we say Shehechiyanu is that Jewish education must be affordable if there is to be any education at all for the largest number of our children.
The Diamond article is available at: https://www.cjnews.com/perspectives/opinions/diamond-the-resiliency-of-jews-and-the-tenacity-of-our-enemies
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Shabbat Shalom GAJE,
October 18, 2019
Grassroots for Affordable Jewish Education 