I am so ready for a new year. Let’s put this one behind us, please. And yet, I know that on Shabbat, October 5th, when I wake up and Rosh Hashanah is over, things likely won’t feel any different. But we all still wish very genuine and real sentiments to one another, of a good new year ahead, a year that will be happy, one that will be sweet.
I am struck by the contradiction of two verses in our tradition. The book of Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) reminds us that: וְאֵין כׇּל־חָדָשׁ תַּחַת הַשָּׁמֶשׁ There is nothing new under the sun (Kohelet 1:9)
We could view it as a pessimistic worldview, a feeling that everything is stale and old. There is no growth, there is no change. And, I think it’s a very real acknowledgement that patterns repeat themselves, that change is often excruciatingly hard, that revelations don’t come easily. All of that is true.
And I am also reminded of a verse that we recite every single day in our liturgy: וּבְטוּבוֹ מְחַדֵּשׁ בְּכָל־יוֹם תָּמִיד מַעֲשֵׂה בְרֵאשִׁית In God’s goodness, God renews every day, continually, the work of creation
This statement is a daily reminder that there is the possibility of new things, of growth, of change. We can believe that this is possible even when we know that patterns repeat. We can believe that things can be different even if they haven’t been. And we believe that there can be revealed, new goodness, even when things have felt so stuck.
This is what is grounding me for the year ahead; this is my prayer for the new year. May it be a year for all of us, for our whole world, where we see change. May it be a year of renewal, of rejuvenation, of new things revealed. May it be a year of good health, of safety, and lots of blessing. And most of all, may it be a year of peace, for our people, for all people.
