NYC rabbi reflects on Rosh Hashanah: 'The most trying and challenging year in my career'
NYC rabbi shares message for Jewish New Year
With Rosh Hashanah beginning at sundown on Wednesday, many are approaching the Jewish new year with mixed emotions. The conflict in the Middle East is weighing heavily on the minds of the Jewish community as they gather under tight security. FOX 5 NY’s Sharon Crowley talked with a rabbi about the message he’s preparing for this year.
NEW YORK CITY - With the start of Rosh Hashanah, many are approaching the Jewish New Year with mixed emotions.
Rabbi Amil Hirsch leads the historic Stephen Wise Free Synagogue on the Upper West Side.
Hirsch is preparing to celebrate the high holy days on the calendar.
"We don't celebrate the new year with fireworks and getting drunk and wild parties. It ushers in 10 days of reflection on what we did wrong, how we can do better, and atonement by asking for forgiveness," Hirsch said.
Coming into the Jewish New Year with mixed emotions
This picture shows projectiles being intercepted by Israel above Tel Aviv on October 1, 2024. Air raid sirens sounded in central Israel on October 1, the military said, a day after the army launched ground operations into southern Lebanon targeting H
This year, for many, the emotions will be extraordinarily powerful, given that the midpoint of the 10 days spanning Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur is Oct. 7 — the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack that killed 1,200 Israelis and triggered the still-ongoing war in Gaza.
For Jews in the U.S. — the world’s second-largest Jewish community after Israel — the past 12 months have been challenging in many ways linked to Oct. 7. There’s been a surge in antisemitic incidents, and many college campuses were wracked by divisive pro-Palestinian protests. Jews grieved for Israelis killed or taken hostage by Hamas; many also are grieving for the tens of thousands of Palestinians subsequently killed during Israeli's military offensive in Gaza.
"This has been the most trying and challenging year in my career and the life times of many of our people," Hirsch said.
At the same time, there is pervasive anxiety about a rise in antisemitic incidents over the past year.
Major Jewish groups have been tracking this trend, which was confirmed last week in the FBI’s 2023 Hate Crime Report.
It found that the Jewish community was the most-targeted religious group, with 1,832 anti-Jewish incidents accounting for 67% of all religiously motivated hate crimes recorded by the FBI. That was up from up 1,124 incidents the prior year. The incidents include vandalism, harassment, assault, and false bomb threats.
A message of hope
Despite what is happening in Israel, Hirsch has a message of hope.
"My hope for the world entire is that, first of all, that this war ends in the upcoming year. That Israel security is assured. That the killing stop, and we begin to take steps toward more peace," Hirsch said.
Hirsch says while it's a sign of our times, he doesn't want people of faith to forget to focus on peace.
"I hope that this year finds us in the United States a little less polarized, a little more tolerant, a little more united in the year to come," Hirsch said.
David Crary and Giovanna Dell'Orto from the Associated Press contributed to this report.