In this sacred season, we pray for health. What happens if it doesn’t come?
It didn’t come for Stephen Newirth. On the Yom Kippur before his death, at age 60, he thanked the people for making a minyan for him at his home. He said:
“I have one request to make, and that is that no one feel sorry for me. While I certainly wouldn’t wish my illness on anyone else, through this illness Hashem, in His greatness and mercy, has rescued me. Before I became ill, I had allowed my life to be filled with noise, distractions and pressures, and focus on things that didn’t matter.
“But since I have faced this deadly illness of stage 4 pancreatic cancer, all of the noise, distractions and pressures have disappeared. I have realized in a way that I never could have imagined before that I am completely dependent on Hashem’s merciful greatness. Only Hashem, our Father and King, can save me and all of us.
“And this realization has filled me with more simcha [joy] that I have ever had in my life. I genuinely spend every day filled with happiness.
“I have no fear. I only have the comfort of believing that the King of the world, in his loving mercy, has placed me where I am, and that this is where Hashem wants me to be.
“I don’t know what will happen, and I take this situation day by day. But what I believe is that whatever happens is what Hashem has determined is for the best — gam zu le-tovah.
“I woke up on Rosh Hashanah morning so filled with happiness that I would have an opportunity to attend the coronation of the King of the World. I put on my finest clothes on both days of Rosh Hashanah, to show my joy at this occasion.
“One of the great gifts that Hashem has bestowed on me through this illness has been to have the clarity to see that all Jews are great and have greatness within them. We all have different capabilities and talents, but in the end we all are equal as foot soldiers in Hashem’s army. . . .
“I thank Hashem for helping me, through this illness, to see all of this so clearly.
“I thank Hashem for cleansing me, and for providing me with the opportunity to be close to Hashem. I can only be filled with simcha, and hope this is a simcha we all can celebrate together.”
These sacred words were shared by Rabbi Aryeh Lebowitz in the current edition of Torah To-Go. Rabbi Lebowitz met Stephen Newirth only once.
A few years ago, I read an article citing sources in our tradition that indicated that when Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos, a difficult year lays ahead. The author’s reasoning went like this: The shofar is not sounded on Rosh Hashanah when it falls on Shabbos. If that spiritual defense is lacking, the merits of the Jewish people decrease, whereupon special concern for the upcoming year is in order.
To be exact, I read that article before Rosh Hashanah in 2023. A couple of weeks later came the Hamas atrocities of 2023, which heralded a extremely difficult year indeed. I wondered whether the author of the article had gone back to read what he had written. I wondered whether he was toying with sources on an abstract level. I wondered whether he read them the same way after the Oct. 7 horrors as he did before.
A couple of weeks ago I read another article. This one said: If the first day of Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos, and the spiritual defense of the shofar blowing is lacking, then there is a positive step every Jew can take.
He began with the obvious question: If the lack of shofar on the first day of Rosh Hashanah signals a decrease in spiritual defense, then why not just blow the shofar on the first day?
The sages forbad it on the grounds that one might carry the shofar in the public domain, and the prevention of this serious violation of Shabbos is worth the cancellation of the shofar blowing.
In other words, the value of Shabbos observance outweighs the spiritual defense of shofar.
So the writer suggested: For the coming year, let every Jew undertake a specific enhancement to one’s Shabbos observance. Let it counterbalance, so to speak, the absence of the spiritual merit of shofar on the first day of Rosh Hashanah.
What kind of specific enhancement to Shabbos?
The author said:
You choose.
Enhance Shabbos as you see fit.
Forestall any difficult destiny that might attach to a Sabbath-Rosh Hashanah. “Shabbos is an eternal sign between Me and the people of Israel,” not to mention, Shabbos is an eternal release, something akin to the disappearance of all the noise, distractions and pressures in the late Stephen Newirth’s life. Except that with Shabbos, one need not be seriously ill to achieve Newirth’s level of simcha, of joy. It is available once a week.
Every Shabbos.
Enhance it.
Embrace it.
Rejoice.
© IJN 2026
