Each year, around this time, we get the chance to look back at the previous twelve months and see how we fared. Last year at this time, we were reeling from what was an objectively atrocious 5780. 5780 gave us violent antisemitic attacks, the deaths of George Floyd and Kobe Bryant, Australian wildfires, BLM riots, and oh yeah, a global pandemic. But now it’s the end of 5781, and although with January 6, the Israel-Hamas war, and the disaster in Afghanistan, we have certainly had our fair share of issues over the past 12 months, there is more optimism to be found going into Rosh HaShanah this year. So why don’t we go through all we have going for us now?
The pandemic is wavering. Although it keeps coming back with renewed senses of vigor, I cannot foresee us ever returning to a time of lockdowns, unless you live in Australia or New Zealand. Here in New York, we do have a significant rise in COVID cases, but we also have the vaccine. Pfizer is expected to apply for approval for 5-12-year-olds in Tishrei, with Moderna potentially one month behind. Vaccines are being more widely accepted, and while that may be due to some businesses forcing them upon employees, it will help bring our case rate down. And of course, here in New York, where we have a tyrant in City Hall, there will be restrictions on who can get access to certain venues, but that leads us to the next positive about the coming year…
Bill de Blasio will be our former mayor. That’s right. If you needed something to put a smile on your face, this winter we will be getting rid of the mayor with the lowest approval rating of my lifetime in this city. At one point, de Blasio had a lower approval rating in New York than Donald Trump. Presumably, Eric Adams will be relieving the embattled mayor of his duties, having defeated a number of opponents, including those endorsed by the Justice Democrats, which will hopefully silence that crowd for a minute or two. And while there certainly are questions about Adams, it is going to be very difficult for him to be worse than his predecessor. But speaking of the Justice Democrats…
Democrats seem to be distancing themselves from their extreme left. This one was very worrisome ever since the rise of Bernie Sanders. Moderate Democrats and even Republicans should have been (and to a lesser extent, still should be) worried about the rise of the far Left of the Democratic Party. However, in a series of decisions around the country this year, Justice Democrats took a beating, highlighted by Shontel Brown defeating the heavily-favored Nina Turner, who had been endorsed by Minnesota AG Keith Ellison and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Brown was able to defeat the would-be Squad member in a surprising show of strength from moderates, with help from outside, especially from pro-Israel PACs. Speaking of which…
Israel finally has a government. After what seems to have been approximately 14,000 elections, Israel has new leadership, and more importantly, a stabilized government. Naftali Bennett came across as very well-spoken and in control in his first public meeting with President Biden. Biden, who had been a long-time friend of Bibi Netanyahu, welcomed the new Prime Minister to the White House just last week. Following a chaotic few years that culminated with a now-resolved war, it is nice to know that Israel will have stability for the foreseeable future, and heartwarming to have a leader who davens three times a day and keeps Shabbos to the point of having a shul put into his hotel for his stay in Washington DC. Speaking of shul…
Shul is back. Sure, we had this last year, as shuls began reopening last summer, but there were still a large number of outdoor minyanim that existed for Rosh HaShanah 5781. This past spring, many shuls began to reopen at full capacity without masks as the vaccine became more readily available to the general population. Although there still are a few outdoor minyanim, they have been dwindling since spring, and we have been able to attend shul without masks ever since. Although the current spike has brought some shuls to reinstitute the mask rules for the upcoming holidays, it does not look to be permanent, and we can bank on heading in the right direction. But the shul is not the only place that has lowered restrictions…
Schools are back! I can’t speak for all schools, but many of the restrictions from the last school year have been eliminated in my kids’ school. No more temperature checks. No more fiberglass partitions. No more masks outdoors. We have hopefully seen the last of those things - and we couldn’t be happier. Sure, children still have to wear masks inside, and parents are not allowed in the buildings, but that may be for the best, as we can continue to do our parent-teach conferences from the comfort of our own homes instead of having to squeeze into chairs and desks intended for eight-year-olds.
All in all, the outlook is good for 5782. There is a lot to be optimistic about. All of this and I didn’t even mention Andrew Cuomo.
From our family to yours, have a k’sivah v’chasimah tovah.
Izzo Zwiren is the host of The Jewish Living Podcast, where he and his guests delve into any and all areas of Orthodox Judaism.