Thousands of years ago, the sage Rabbi Ishmael famously said: כל התחלות קשות … “All beginnings are difficult.” In his context, the venerable ancient affirmed that one mitzvah can lead to another, but a person has to start, and that’s the hardest part. Though we have many “new years” as Jews living in America—the secular year on Jan. 1, the fiscal year on July 1, the seasonal year on Passover, and, of course, the Jewish New Year on Rosh Hashanah—it is the lead-in to the school year and the anticipation of the High Holy Days that engages all of us who are staff at Wise.
As the High Holy Days approach, our teachers and school staff prepare for another year of cultivating young minds, and our administration ensures that we are ready to receive hundreds of young people in our schools as well as thousands of worshippers in the preparation for the High Holy Days. And, lest I forget, our clergy is equally consumed with crafting the year ahead. This includes planning your High Holy Day experience, ramping up our yearly programs, and working with legions of volunteers who are deeply involved in making our lives at Wise so fulfilling.
All beginnings are difficult. Each of those groups planning the year ahead has to come off the slow and easy days of summer and dig into their appointed tasks. We motivate and inspire each other, and are motivated even more by the prospect of all those who can join us for all we have to offer. And that, my friends, is where you come in: Wise is an unbelievable community. In any given week, there are paths to involvement for every age group, and of course, all of this culminates with our beautiful Shabbat services. So, my challenge to you is to begin again this year. Peruse our offerings and join us. Take those first steps into community, into learning, into spiritual journeys, into tikkun olam—I know that you will not be disappointed. Read our newsletters, take a chance with something that you might have previously overlooked, or take a class, so that together we can enrich our lives and build a better world.
—Rabbi Ron Stern