Special Rosh Hashanah Message

Rosh Hashanah is more than the Jewish New Year. It’s the time to accept God as our King and to reaffirm our connection to our Jewish heritage.

We usher in Rosh Hashanah with the blowing of the Shofar. The shofar’s sound echoes the majesty of a royal coronation. Yet its blasts are also deeply personal—a spiritual wake-up call, like the cry of a lost child longing to return to a loving parent.

This sacred bond of father and child lies at the heart of Judaism and is at the core of Rosh Hashanah. This is why the Avinu Malkenu prayer, which proclaims that God is our Father and our King, is so central to the observance of the day.

Rosh Hashanah is also known as the Day of Judgment (Yom HaDin), when God reviews our deeds of the past year and inscribes us for the year ahead.

As difficult as this may seem, we can be encouraged by the statement in this week’s Torah portion, Nitzavim, when God declares in Deuteronomy 30:14, that keeping the Torah’s commandments is “Very close for you to carry out with your mouth and heart to do them.”

However, since we all make mistakes, we can reconnect to God through the three pillars of Teshuvah—repentance or Return, Tefillah—Prayer, and Tzedakah—Charity. Together they realign our lives with our higher purpose and open the channels for divine blessing.

By embracing these acts, may we merit to receive God’s abundant blessings, a year of health, peace, and spiritual enlightenment, and may the sound of the shofar herald not only renewal but redemption for all humanity.

Shabbat Shalom and Shanah Tovah,

Rabbi Bentzion Kravitz

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