Tonight we will usher in the Jewish New Year of 5781. Ours is not a “celebration” in the classic sense of joyful partying and merry making. Rather, Rosh Hashanah represents the beginning of a ten day period of personal and communal introspection and repentance. It is when the Almighty judges every individual and mankind as a whole. As we say in our liturgy, “On Rosh Hannah judgment will be recorded and on Yom Kippur it will be sealed. Who will live? And who will die?…Who by storm and who by plague?”

These words are always chilling and even more so in this year of the pandemic. But our prayers also convey hope; hope for a brighter future; for a year in which we are “inscribed in the book of life, blessing, peace and prosperity”.

May it be the will of the Almighty that we are inscribed in the Book of Life and that we are blessed with a year of good health, happiness and prosperity. Amen.