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.