Carrying the Light into 5787

Dear Friends,

In 1883, Jewish American poet Emma Lazarus wrote The New Colossus, the sonnet later inscribed inside the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal. In it, Lazarus imagines the statue as more than a monument. She envisions it as a beacon of welcome and possibility, her torch lighting the way for those carrying their hopes toward the future.

The poem ends with an image that has stayed with generations of Americans:

“I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

As we enter 5787, I have been thinking about that lamp.

Rosh Hashanah arrives each year as a doorway; an invitation to leave behind what we can, carry forward what we must, and step together into something new.

The year behind us has not always been easy for the Jewish people. We have experienced uncertainty, loss, antisemitism, and deep division. Yet through it all, I have watched our St. Louis Jewish community continue to carry the light for one another.

We have shown up. We have cared for those who needed us. We have celebrated Jewish life proudly. We have stood together even when we have not always agreed.

As we cross the threshold into a new year, perhaps our task is simply this:

Keep carrying the light.

Carry it for someone who is struggling.

Carry it for our children and the generations who will follow us.

Carry it for Israel and Jewish communities around the world.

Carry it into places where there is the darkness of loneliness or fear.

And together, let us make the doorway into 5787 brighter.

From my family to yours, Shanah Tovah U’Metukah. 

May the year ahead bring sweetness, health, hope, and peace to our community, to Israel, and to the Jewish people everywhere.