Correction and apology from last week (the dangers of listing names when you inevitably leave someone out) – thank you to City Councilor Elana Pirtle-Guiney for also joining us at the Jewish Festival.

With the call of the shofar, I find myself once again filled with gratitude for this remarkable community. The High Holy Days are upon us, and with them comes that sense of renewal -- a chance to reflect on the year behind us while stepping forward, together, into 5787 with hope, purpose, and, most of all, joy.

There is something profoundly moving about this season. Rosh Hashanah invites us to dream big about what can be while Yom Kippur asks us to be truly honest with ourselves. At the same time, throughout the holidays, our synagogues, our Jewish schools, our Jewish organizations, and our homes will be filled with the sound of prayer, laughter, family, and tradition.

But I would be doing you and our community a disservice if I did not take a moment during this season of reflection to talk candidly about something that concerns me every day in my work -- keeping our community safe. It is so important that we also sent a video earlier this week.

This year carries particular weight, as today we mark the 25th anniversary of September 11. I remember it vividly. I was working at The Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore. The night before, we held our campaign kick-off event at the Baltimore Aquarium with Dr. Reuven Hazan from Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The morning of 9/11, I dropped him off at the train station at 8:45 am for his train to New York City. At that moment, the first plane hit the Twin Towers. I had no clue anything had happened until I reached the Federation building some five minutes later. People were already congregating in the Board Room watching the television. And then, at 9:03 a.m., we watched in horror as the second plane hit. It was an incredibly scary day for all of us. (By the way, Dr. Hazan’s train was stopped in Philadelphia where he was unable to leave for five days to get home to Israel.)

A quarter-century has passed since that morning changed our nation forever, and yet the lessons of that day feel as urgent as ever. September 11 taught us that vigilance is not paranoia. It is care in action. That day taught us that community is not just something we celebrate; it is also something we protect. And in the 25 years since, our Jewish community has learned, sometimes painfully, that this lesson applies to us in ways we could not have imagined.

Here is the reality, and I share it not to alarm you, but because I believe in an informed and empowered community -- this year, our local Jewish community will have invested $1.6 million in security. That is guards at our synagogue doors. Security throughout Zidell Yards during our recent Jewish Festival. Hardened entryways at our schools and preschools. Cameras, active-shooter trainings, and coordination with local law enforcement. I cannot express enough my gratitude to the tireless work by professionals whose diligence makes it possible for all of us to gather, pray, listen to a speaker, dance, and sing -- hopefully without worry and concern.

And here's the bigger picture, last week Jewish Federations of North America reported that nationally, the Jewish community now spends more than $1 billion annually on security (an increase of 33% over the year prior). Let that number sink in for a moment. One billion dollars -- resources that could otherwise go toward Jewish education (this amount would cover the cost of every child attending Jewish overnight camp throughout America or some 44,000 students in Jewish day schools), toward caring for our elderly, toward feeding the hungry, toward building the vibrant Jewish future we all want. Sadly, instead these funds are going toward hardening facilities and security personnel. And these costs are not going down. They are climbing, year after year.

I want to be honest -- this is where my heart and mind are this High Holy Day season. And to be clear, I do not believe we are spending this money out of fear. We are spending it out of commitment to a joyful Jewish future. We spend it because we love our children too much not to protect the schools where they learn and camps where they develop. We spend it because we love people too much not to secure the buildings where they gather for community and connection. We spend it because we love Greater Jewish Portland -- a resilient, generous, creative Jewish community -- too much to let anything stand between us and our freedom to assemble, to pray, to celebrate, and to simply be Jews.

This is, in its own way, a profoundly Jewish response. Twenty-five years after 9/11, and after every challenge the Jewish people have faced through thousands of years of history, we have never chosen to disappear or dim our light. Instead, we have chosen, again and again, to gather anyway, to celebrate anyway, and to build anyway. We do not fortify our Jewish institutions to shut the world out -- we do so to keep our doors open so we can come together with confidence and joy.

This Rosh Hashanah, as you dip your apples in honey and wish others a sweet new year, I ask you to hold two truths at once -- gratitude for how safe and vibrant our community remains, and total awareness of what it takes to keep it that way.

To our security personnel, our volunteers, our Jewish professionals, our law enforcement partners, and our donors who make this possible -- thank you. You are the quiet heroes of this holiday season and year-round.

To all of you, L'Shana tova u’metuka -- may you be inscribed for a good and sweet year, filled with health, joy, connection, and peace. Our community is strong. Our community is safe. And together, our community will keep shining.
 
Shabbat shalom and happy New Year.