From the desk of Jay Solomon, President & CEO
As we approach Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, I’m reminded of an old story.
Long ago, before there were towns and cities, a young man visited a nearby village and was startled by the wail of a bugle. He asked an innkeeper what it meant. “Whenever we have a fire,” the innkeeper said, “we sound the bugle, and the fire is quickly put out.”
Awestruck, the young man bought a bugle and rushed home. He gathered his neighbors, set a straw roof ablaze, and blew with all his strength. The fire only grew. The villagers turned on him, furious and frightened. The bugle had never extinguished anything. It was an alarm — a wake-up call telling people it was time to act.
During the High Holidays, we fulfill the mitzvah of sounding the shofar, the ram’s horn, though sounding it is only part of what’s asked of us. Like the bugle, the shofar is a wake-up call, calling us back to God, back to community, back to one another. The sound alone cannot put out the fire.
And the fire doesn’t feel like a metaphor right now. Every time we turn on the news, we meet another example of hate, bigotry, and violence. We cannot be like the young man, believing the sound alone will banish the flames. Peace is not achieved through hope. It is achieved through action, through open conversation and mutual respect.
This year, when we hear the shofar sound, let us remember its purpose, not as an ornament of the holiday, but as a calling. Let it call us to speak our truth, to come together as one people, and to summon peace in all forms and in all places. As we say after the sounding, “Ashrei ha-am yode’ei teru’ah, Adonai, be-or panecha yhalachun.” Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound; they walk, O LORD, in the light of your countenance.
May we all find a reason to walk in that light this year and bring peace and harmony to all those we touch. On behalf of Lori, Matthew, Chance, and me, I want to wish you all a hearty and peaceful l’shana tova, may this year be filled with peace, warmth, good health, and community.
