From the Desk of Adam Lehman: Finding Hope in the Jewish New Year
Friends,
Our Jewish world desperately needs hope right now. Open virtually any Jewish publication, newspaper, or social media account, and it’s easy to become overwhelmed by the seeming hopelessness of the news in this moment.
Jews around the world are encountering heightened levels of antisemitism, discrimination, and even violence. The war in Gaza rages on, 48 hostages remain in captivity, and internecine conflicts within Jewish communities spark extreme disagreements over how to move forward, both within the diaspora and Israel.
So how in this exceedingly difficult context can we possibly find hope? Thankfully as Jews, we are blessed with thousands of years of wisdom and evolved practices that have guided and sustained Jewish communities through the ages. Among the most central is the holiday of Rosh Hashanah, which begins at sundown on Monday.
Rosh Hashanah not only serves as a celebration of a new Jewish year: Rosh Hashanah is the embodiment of hope for each of us individually, and as a collective Jewish people. Why even bother celebrating a new year absent the hope that the new year can bring us closer to a perfected world?
Even the three major sections within the Rosh Hashanah musaf service form a recipe for hope: Malchuyot – “Kingship” – conveys an essential and immanent divine goodness that stands behind our existence and that of the world; Zichronot – “Remembrance” – helps us appreciate the robust arc of Jewish history, as we have persisted through seemingly insurmountable challenges time and again; and Shofarot – “Shofar” – serves as a clarion call to awaken our souls to pursue what’s good and right in the world.
At Hillel International, this is also a time of great hope and optimism, as we embark on our new strategic plan, The Future of Jewish Belonging on Campus. This new plan is designed to meet the defining moment that our community faces: Jewish students need meaningful spaces of belonging — spaces where they are not only safe, but also able to express their Jewish identities with pride, joy, and confidence.
The Future of Jewish Belonging on Campus focuses on three key change strategies to achieve this hopeful future:
- Growing Jewish joy and connection on campus through expanded opportunities for Jewish communal engagement
- Ensuring Jewish inclusion and resilience by addressing antisemitism and promoting Jewish pride
- Inspiring a transformative new generation of Jewish leaders by empowering more students than ever to create, build, and lead on campus and beyond
Much like we combine the expression of our hearts with commitment to our deeds throughout the Rosh Hashanah liturgy, at Hillel we are already taking focused action in support of our new strategic objectives.
Just last week, we supported the kickoff convening for Hillels of Georgia’s new Leven-Silberman Leadership Institute, the first of more than a dozen regional student leadership summits we’ll be supporting this academic year to inspire, train and empower thousands of participating Jewish students. We’ve also launched a new “Leadership Passport” program, to help Jewish students attend and benefit from leadership convenings hosted by other Jewish organizations. And we’re on pace for another record-setting level of community engagement through Hillel campus programs.
Through events like University of Delaware Hillel’s massive annual Markell Fresh Fest and Hillel of San Diego’s Welcome Back BBQ, to Bradley University Hillel’s mini-golf day and James Madison University Hillel’s welcome picnic, Hillels across our movement are delivering on creative and innovative ways to help Jewish students find their welcoming community on campus — a place where they know they belong.
Simply put, at a time when many in our community feel challenged to find sources of hope and optimism, our work with young Jews on nearly 1,000 campuses offers a powerful prescription for exactly that kind of hope. And as we prepare to begin 5786, we are so grateful for your support that makes it all possible.
Wishing each of you a shana tova u’metukah — may this be a year that brings peace, joy, pride, and a deep sense of Jewish belonging for us all.