ROSH HASHANAH EDITION SECTION D PAGE 20
Shana Goldberg:
At this time last year I was preparing to move overseas, not an easy undertaking! Mountains of paperwork and bureaucracy kept the departure date uncertain, so Rosh Hashanah was not the peaceful holiday it should have been. This year, I am not moving overseas — but all of my worldly belongings are. Our furniture shipment is scheduled to arrive between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (how’s that for timing?), so once again there is a sense of new beginnings, and those elements of stress and excitement that accompany any new start.
As the “head” of the year, Rosh Hashanah is a time for fresh starts, for new adventures. May all of the journeys that you embark upon this year — whether personal or professional, long-term or short-term, in seriousness or just for fun, whether desired or the result of circumstance — lead you to a place of fulfillment and peace.
Julie Greenberg Richman:
I hope and pray that those who are suffering receive comfort and renewal; that those who are ill find relief and rejuvenation; that those who are grieving receive hope and love; and that those who are lonely find friendship and community.
May the families whose countries are in turmoil find refuge and safety; may those who are hungry receive nourishment and sustenance; may those whose communities are torn by violence find some respite and relief.
May the oceans, the sky and the dirt beneath our feet receive care, protection and devotion; may the many hands of our planet’s people hold the Earth’s beauty with gratitude and appreciation, and may the fragrance of the air remain sweet and clear.
Andrea Jacobs:
When I was 28 I made a pilgrimage to England to honor novelist Virginia Woolf, the mother of my words. My journey ended at Woolf’s country home in Rodmell, where she wrote in the backyard shed and lived happily until the madness returned. She killed herself in 1941, at age 59.
Woolf was obsessed with the moment, the transient sphere that whispers sudden epiphanies if we listen. The following passage comes from her diary:
“Now is life very solid or very shifting? I am haunted by the two contradictions. This has gone on forever; goes down to the bottom of the world — this moment I stand on. Also it is transitory, flying, diaphanous. I shall pass like a cloud on the waves . . .
“Perhaps it may be that though we change, one flying after another, so quick, so quick, we are somehow successive and continuous . . . and show the light through. But what is the light?”
My prayer is that we pay attention to the moments upon which we stand, and acknowledge the light in all its disguises.
Gerald Mellman:
The IJN has always been extra special to me. I get so much pleasure and enjoyment coming to 1177 Grant Street. I submit there is no publication in the world that equals the IJN.
Since the 1970s, when Miriam Goldberg, editor and publisher, gave me a threshold, the IJN has always been a part of me. I practiced law for 61 years as my mainstay until I retired a few years ago. My beloved and deceased wife Gen always realized the importance of the IJN.
Chris Leppek, a fine writer, came aboard to the IJN in 1977. Ican’t thank Miriam Goldberg enough. Iwould like to thank her family, Rabbi Hillel, Elaine, Shana, Tehilla and Rabbi Mattis. I would to thank Larry, Chris, Andrea, Lori, Dave, Carol, and Judy and Bernie, the latter two who have both recently retired. One person who helps me weekly is Seiji Negata. I don’t want to omit the late IJN stalwarts Max Goldberg, Bob Gamzey and Doris Sky.
As long as I have the fortitude, the IJN will be my second home. Happy New Year to the staff and readers of the IJN.
Lori Aron:
I wish my family and the entire community shalom u’vracha — peace and blessings. May we all be blessed with health, happiness and wisdom while continuing to understand the importance of respecting others. And may we take pause to express gratitude and appreciation to thank Hashem for everything we have and all that is good.
Hillel Goldberg:
I cannot summon the usual personal prayers so prevalent at this time. I am filled with dread over the likelihood of a nuclear Iran sworn to the destruction of Israel. Hitler taught us: Pay attention to madmen who say they want to destroy you. May Iran be stopped.
I am filled with rage over the inaction of this country in Syria in 2011, when a relatively small problem, uncomplicated by Muslim terrorists, required a relatively small solution — instead, we have this terrible human suffering. Prayer is not designed to be a substitute for wisdom, commitment and action.
With them, we must now double our prayers.
Miriam H. Goldberg:
I give thanks for my growing family down through the generations, and hope that this year, the eternal prayer for peace will be answered.
Amy Hirshberg Lederman:
This has been a year filled with struggles and challenges as well as joys and blessings. Judaism teaches us to hold life’s many inconsistencies in our hands knowing that there is always the hope and possibility for transformation and change.
May this New Year of 5776 be a year that you speak from your heart, strengthen your relationships, seek knowledge and truth, and create a life of meaning and purpose.
Larry Hankin:
I pray that 5776 is a year of growth and fulfillment for my family, friends, colleagues and community members.
May you be granted forgiveness, and may you grant forgiveness asked of you. May your dreams be achieved and may you be spared grief.
I also pray that the recent uptick in anti-Semitism is a short-lived trend and that Jews will feel safe wherever they are.
Tehilla Goldberg:
May we all be blessed to make wonderful new memories this coming year 5776.
May we, together with our loved ones, be inscribed and sealed for a year of life, health, blessing and joy.
May we keep learning and revealing our truest and hopefully finest selves. May we be people whose existence radiates kindness in the world. Offer more words of encouragement, listening and love.
And may we be given another opportunity to keep figuring out that delicate dance of balance that is this life.
Shana tova u-metuka. May this be your sweetest year yet.
Carol Coen:
I give thanks for my loving husband, children, grandchildren and dogs.
I pray that everyone who suffers misfortune can be comforted and supported, that those who are ill can find relief and be at peace. We must take care of each other.
We all need to complete the smallest acts of kindness each day without even giving it a thought. What may seem trivial to us, like a compliment or smile, can be huge to someone who is not used to it.
In the coming year I pray for peace throughout the world.
Copyright © 2015 by the Intermountain Jewish News
