34 | SEPTEMBER 22 • 2022
ROSH HASHANAH
W
e Jews prepare to enter this
new year significantly vulner-
able. A nuclear Iran. Growing
antisemitism. BDS. The rise of Christian
nationalism and the crumbling of the wall
between church and state. Add to these
vulnerabilities the threats against Jews
that invariably come from political polar-
ization, from false accusations of electoral
fraud, and from the phys-
ical and verbal attacks on
democratic institutions, as
well as the inherent dangers
of the mental health crisis
and gun violence. Truly,
Jews around the world are
increasingly vulnerable in
the coming year.
We know the antidotes
to Jewish vulnerability. There is strength
in faith and fellowship. There is sanctu-
ary in synagogues. There is joy in Jewish
living. There is safety in Jewish soldiers
defending the Jewish State using Jewish
brains and high-tech weapons, and there
is hope in the potential of the Abraham
Accords as well as Israeli success as the
Start-Up Nation. Since our days in Egypt,
we Jews are experienced in living with
vulnerability.
While we are vulnerable, we Jews are
incredibly powerful, too. In the U.S. we
are overrepresented in the highest eche-
lons of society, successful in every aspect
of life. In Israel, thanks to Iron Dome and
the security fence, the Palestinians are
no longer an existential
threat, and in so many
ways the Promised Land
is thriving. In the coming
year, Jews can celebrate
the fact that we are stron-
ger than we have been in
thousands of years.
Yet the Hebrew Bible
instructs us that our great-
est vulnerability comes
from the possession of
power. We are cautioned
against acting like the
Egyptians who oppressed
us out of excessive and
wrongly placed fears. We are counseled
against using our insecurities to justify
indifference and heartlessness. We are
warned, too, against growing overly arro-
gant in claiming our successes as our own,
rather than acknowledging God’s role
in our abundance. The punishment for
the above sins is loss of our land and the
multiplication of our vulnerabilities. If we
become like Egypt, abusing our power and
deifying human beings, we will once again
return to Egypt.
Aware of our strengths and vulnerabil-
ities, the High Holidays arrive to demand
from us humility and to offer us hope; to
ask of us faith and to offer us family and
friendship, community and continuity.
This year, in particular, we must remem-
ber to practice abundant kindness toward
our fellow Jews, even if they sit across
the political aisle or disagree with us
religiously. We must exercise forgiveness
toward those who have wronged us —
especially if they are our family. And this
year, in particular, while still protecting
ourselves, we must practice unwarranted
kindness even to those who oppose us.
Indeed, as my teacher Dr. Micah
Goodman explains, a significant part of
the Jewish mission is “neither to return
to Egypt nor to become like Egypt.” In
this New Year, may we be wise enough
to stand with each other as Jews to lessen
or even overcome our vulnerabilities. In
this New Year, too, may we transcend our
fears to realize our fullest potential as
Jews and as the Jewish People.
Rabbi Aaron Starr is a spiritual leader at
Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield.
Rabbi
Aaron Starr
Jewish Vulnerability, Jewish Power
Holiday
Rabbinic
Greetings
Local rabbis share
messages for the
Days of Awe.