Summer ‘25/Fall ‘25

NOBODY STAYS in this world for more than 120 years.” The question is how did you live in the time that was allotted to you?

So asks Hadas Lowenstern, a Gaza war widow, alluding to the 120 years that Moses lived on earth. In Israel, a popular toast to make is “L’meah esreem” – to 120, the lifespan of Moses!

But Hadas’s husband, Rabbi Elisha Lowenstern, only got 38 years of life. Elisha, a software engineer and serious Torah scholar, was killed in battle in Gaza, leaving his wife and six children behind.

Their family’s story is not uncommon in Israel. Nearly 900 soldiers have fallen in battle since the October 7th Massacre of two years ago, when 1,200 Israeli civilians – parents, children, teenagers, grandmas and grandpas – were slaughtered, raped, beheaded, and burned alive in their kibbutz homes near Gaza.

The last two years have marked a turning point in the long history of the Jewish people. From that horrible day, we have rebounded as strong and proud people who have learned the lessons of our past and will not go silently into the night. The success of the IDF – the Israel Defense Forces – has been nothing short of miraculous.

As American Jews, we can learn from our brothers and sisters in Israel. Better days are coming if we remain strong and united, and unafraid.

May we be blessed to live the New Year in peace.

Cantor Manny