Synagogues all over the world will soon celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. A highlight of the holiday service is the powerful and stirring sounds blown from the shofar, an ancient instrument traditionally made from a hollowed ram’s horn.
Jewish thinkers have offered many reasons for the shofar-blowing on Rosh Hashanah. Among the most fundamental are those suggested by Maimonides, who sees the shofar’s blasts as a wake-up call to pause and reassess our lives. In his words, the shofar cries out: “Wake up you sleepy ones from your slumber and you who doze, arise … look to your souls and improve your ways.”
This year, the shofar’s sounds will be particularly poignant for the Jewish community. The wake-up call will inspire contemplation of how the Jewish world was turned upside down by Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attacks, and the ensuing war on multiple fronts and all their consequences.
This year, though, it would be wise for even those outside the synagogue’s walls to accept the shofar’s invitation to wake up and reassess. This is especially true for those of us living in the United States, where too many are sleeping even though our world has also been turned upside down.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in foreign affairs. The Russia-Ukraine war is ongoing; and there are unprecedented emerging threats in Asia and the Middle East is a tinderbox, especially with Iran both emboldened and within spitting distance of nuclear arms. U.S. leadership in response to it all has been weak and insufficient. Walter Russell Mead summed it up well with the title of a recent essay in The Wall Street Journal, “U.S. shrugs as World War III approaches.”
The U.S. balance sheet is another crisis in need of massive attention. National debt held by the public is at 99% of GDP and above $28 trillion, compared to 33% and $3.3 trillion in 2001. Social Security’s reserves are projected to run dry by 2033 and Medicare’s three years later. These are not fun problems to solve, but kicking the fiscal can further down the road is wildly irresponsible.
We have also lost our sense of outrage at violence in this country. By one counting, there have been 404 mass shootings in the United States in 2024 through the end of August—more than one per day. These shootings have killed 527 people and injured 1,755 others. It shouldn’t be too much to ask that Americans go to schools, concerts, rallies, supermarkets and houses of worship without fear. More than 420 people have been murdered in Chicago so far this year and New York City subway murders are up 60%, near record highs. Two recent attempts on the life of a former president are part of a broader pattern of rising political violence. I don’t have the solution to this epidemic of violence, but the journey towards one starts with acknowledging that the status quo is unacceptable.
The increasing tolerance of antisemitism is not just a Jewish problem; it’s an American problem. The FBI recently released data showing that hate crimes against Jews soared 63% last year to the highest on record. Jews—and this is true for people of any faith—should be able to walk proudly and safely on college campuses, in their religious institutions and during the everyday conduct of their lives. In the United States, people should be able to advocate for whatever their political views are, but hatred and hate crimes have no place.
Quite sadly, we as a country are also struggling to have substantive political conversations. At dinner tables and online forums, thoughtful dialogue has been replaced by polarization. At debate pulpits, coherent arguments and policies have been subsumed by theatrical antics and sound bites. I dish this criticism to both parties. We the people have real challenges, and we need to have real conversations and real leadership to address them. Mostly, though, we are sleeping through these issues. I pray that this year’s shofar will inspire the country to wake up, look to our souls, and improve our ways.
Shanah tovah, Happy New Year, to all.
