Yaakov Raskin | A year of wonders begins with us

Today, as Jews around the world celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, we have entered the year 5787, counted from the creation of the world according to the Jewish calendar. If you are Jewish and in Jamaica, I encourage you to go to synagogue and hear the shofar. Its ancient cry calls us to wake up, reflect, return and rise above who we were yesterday.

The Hebrew letters of this year, תשפ״ז, can be understood as carrying a beautiful blessing: Tehei Shnat Pelaot Zu, may this be a year of wonders.

We all need wonders in one form or another. We need them in our families, in our health, in our livelihoods, in Jamaica and in a world that often feels unsettled. Yet, Jewish thought teaches that wonders are not merely something we pray for; they are also something we can help create.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe explained that both nature and miracles come from G-d. Nature is the order we have become accustomed to seeing: the sun rises, rain falls, seeds grow and hearts beat. A miracle occurs when something rises above that normal order and reveals a possibility we did not know existed.

The same can be true of people. Each of us has a “natural order” made up of familiar habits and assumptions. We may say, “That is just who I am. I am not patient. I do not forgive easily. I am too busy. I do not have enough to give.” Over time, we can begin to mistake what is familiar for what is inevitable.

A new year reminds us that they are not the same.

Growth does not always mean doing what we did last year, only a little better. Sometimes it means creating an entirely new pattern of behaviour. It may mean becoming more generous when generosity does not come easily, more patient when anger comes quickly, making genuine time for family, or finally letting go of a resentment carried for years.

For a Jew, it may mean taking on a mitzvah that until now felt distant, such as hearing the shofar, lighting Shabbat candles, giving charity or setting aside time for Torah study. For others, it may mean helping a neighbour, treating employees with greater dignity, acting with greater honesty in business or reaching out to someone who has been forgotten. These actions may never make headlines, but they can still represent a person rising above his or her limitations.

Here in Jamaica, we understand something about beginning again.

Almost a year after Hurricane Melissa tore through communities across the island, rebuilding continues. Homes, schools, businesses and lives have had to be restored, often under difficult circumstances. We have seen people lose much and still find the strength to start over.

There is something wondrous about that.

A wonder does not always mean the storm never comes. Sometimes the wonder is discovering that after the storm, we are capable of rising higher than we thought possible.

Next Sunday night, September 20, begins Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year. It is the day of forgiveness and second chances. Judaism teaches that no person is permanently defined by past mistakes and that the door back to G-d always remains open.

However, there is an important qualification.

The Mishnah teaches that Yom Kippur can bring forgiveness for sins between a person and G-d, but when we have wronged another person, forgiveness requires more. We must go to that individual, ask forgiveness and, where possible, make things right.

That is often harder than fasting.

It is easier to ask G-d for forgiveness than to call someone we have hurt and say, “I was wrong.” It is easier to recite prayers than to repair a friendship, repay a debt or admit that pride has stood in the way for too long.

Perhaps that is where a true year of wonders begins, not with something dramatic in the heavens, but with a change in the human heart. Two people who have not spoken begin speaking again. Someone who never apologises apologises. A family refuses to pass an old quarrel from one generation to the next.

The same principle applies to communities and nations. We are built not only through policies and projects, but through thousands of daily interactions: how we treat workers, neighbours and strangers, and whether we take responsibility when we have caused pain.

As we begin 5787, let us pray for a year of wonders. But let us also ask what kind of wonder we can create ourselves.

May this be a year of stronger families, deeper faith, greater kindness and greater responsibility for one another. May it be a year of blessing for Jamaica, for the Jewish people and for the entire world.