On Wednesday morning, we woke to the startling news of a hijacking attempt (and potential terrorist attack) on FlyDubai #1073 from the UAE to Israel. The pilot was stabbed by his co-pilot, prompting the plane to plummet 17,000 feet before Israeli passengers on the flight and crew regained control and safely landed in Saudi Arabia.

The UAE’s attorney general said investigators would “collect information and evidence, to determine the truth of the incident, its circumstances, details, and motives, and to verify the extent of its connection to any terrorist activity or purpose, or the existence of prior planning or direction for it.”

The extraordinary courage and actions of Yaniv Hayun, Tzvika Mans, Assaf Rajuan, and Captain Smit Machchhar saved everyone on board. Interestingly, Yaniv told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he knew how to stabilize the plane because he had watched “Air Crash Investigation,” a TV series about aviation disasters.

We are deeply grateful to the injured pilot who still managed to open the cockpit door, to the crew and passengers who acted so quickly, and to the Saudi authorities for shepherding everyone home. Their courage prevented what could have been an unspeakable tragedy. We wish the captain and all those injured a full and speedy recovery.

Every day I receive emails from Word Smarts, a website that explains the etymology of words and provides interesting answers to why words are as they are (i.e., why does “doubt” have a “b”?). On Sunday, they wrote all about my favorite word – y’all.

I grew up in the south. In Florida, if you draw a line from Tampa to Orlando to Daytona Beach -- everything north of that is the actual South -- and everything south of it is the North, thanks to all the transplants from New York and beyond. Thus, y’all has always been a regular part of my vocabulary.

The debate is whether “y’all,” which can be a singular second-person pronoun, can also mean a group. My college roommate from Kingsport, Tennessee always insisted the plural of “y’all” is “all y’all.” Word Smarts had a slightly different take. They say “y’all” refers to an indeterminate number of people while “all y’all” refers to everyone in a group being directly addressed.

Hebrew has this figured out. We have atah for the singular “you” and atem for the whole crowd. English just says "you" for both. To me, that is where y’all comes in handy, especially as we celebrate two more holidays between tonight and Sunday -- Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah.

Let me explain.

Shemini Atzeret, literally "the eighth day of assembly," comes right after the seven days of Sukkot. It is often mistaken for the last day of Sukkot, but the tradition treats it as a holiday in its own right. Its themes are gathering and lingering. The day includes Yizkor, the memorial prayer, and a prayer for rain in Israel (too often our prayers seem not to cross the state border). From then on, we add "mashiv haruach umorid hageshem" -- "the One Who makes the wind blow, and makes the rain descend" -- to the Amidah, marking the start of the rainy season in Israel.

As I see it, Sukkot is winding down. Think how many times we have shaken the lulav and eaten in the sukkah. Then God basically says, "Hold on. Y'all stay for one more day.” That is atzeret -- a holding back, a lingering.

Then comes Simchat Torah, "rejoicing with the Torah," which marks the completion of the annual Torah reading cycle. In the Diaspora (outside the Reform movement), it is celebrated the day after Shemini Atzeret; in Israel and in the Reform movement, the two are observed together. The services are joyful and fun. Typically, all the Torah scrolls come out of the ark and are carried in hakafot, seven circuits around the synagogue, with singing and lots of dancing. We read the final portion of Deuteronomy, V'zot HaBerachah, and immediately begin Genesis again, with everyone getting an aliyah (in some synagogues this can take hours).

Here is where the word y'all really comes in handy. In Deuteronomy we read, "Atem nitzavim hayom kulchem" -- "you are standing here today, all of you." That to me personifies what y'all is all about. Shemini Atzeret is God saying, "Y'all stick around." Simchat Torah is us answering, "All y'all come dance and celebrate."

Some community briefs:

I want to welcome Eli Berne as the Jewish Federation%u2019s new Director of Government Affairs. Eli is a native Portlander who most recently served as State Director in the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) Washington, D.C. office. There he worked with Jewish Federations across the country on state and local issues of importance to the Jewish community, including security, combating antisemitism, and protecting the social service safety net. Here, Eli will lead our advocacy efforts on the state, city, and county levels. We welcome Eli, his wife, Gina, and their dog, Oscar. Eli can be reached by clicking here.

George Okulitch, our hard-working lobbyist for the last 15 years, will continue to work with us through the 2027 state legislative session and help Eli get settled.

Speaking of JFNA, they are conducting a national survey to better understand how families make decisions about their children's education. If your child is currently in preschool, public school, or private school – but not a Jewish day school -- your perspective is invaluable. Take the survey here. 

Mark your calendar for October 15 at 10:15 a.m. for the Great Oregon Shakeout. This will be a two-minute earthquake drill designed to help Oregonians practice how to “drop, cover, and hold on.” Earthquakes are among our greatest potential natural disasters here in the Pacific Northwest and this drill will help you respond faster when, not if, we get an earthquake.

How many of y’all have an earthquake plan? (Not worried? Watch the movie San Andreas with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson -- that will get you planning.)

Shabbat shalom and chag sameach to all y’all.