Interestingly, the secular new year, Tu B’Shevat, and our reading about the Exodus in the Torah all happen around the same time, so needless to say fresh starts are on our minds in January. Whether it’s a new food, a new exercise routine, or a new hobby, it’s helpful to have an excuse like the new year to explore those unchartered waters in our lives.

Here’s a question to ponder about our biblical narrative: what would have happened if, at any point, God had decided that the Jewish people were not worthy of redemption? Or worthy of receiving the Torah? It’s a question without an answer because it hypothetically negates the existence of Judaism altogether.

This time of year, when it’s easy to find It’s a Wonderful Life on television (including a 24-hour marathon of the film), we can get caught up in trying to live up to some unknown standard of wonderful. However, what we’re all really seeking when our time has come is that people will say, “It was a full life.”

Having just returned from a trip to Israel where I viewed some of the unspeakable devastation from the terror attacks on October 7 and heard from survivors and families of hostages, I cannot wrap my mind around the perspective that Israel should simply back down altogether. Breaking a cycle of mistreatment will never be a one-sided endeavor.

As the problem solver I strive to be, I’ve had to learn not to critique the plan or point out flaws until I have a viable solution to offer up. Perhaps our Torah portion can remind us that the first “solution” is to find common ground and work together. That’s how the hardest problems get solved.

I’m writing this in the final moments of our downtime before we head to dinner and the airport. I have no clue what day of the week it is, and the last few days are a jumble, but I wanted to get this reflection out before I got on the airplane.

Today was the reason I came on this trip. I came to bear witness to the atrocities of Black Shabbat, October 7. Houses blackened with soot. Safe rooms covered in blood and bullets. A bottle of wine left on the table outside from a last sukkah party the night before. In this house, a friend, in that house, a young family. Doors with a “Bring Them Home” poster of their owner taped to the door.