Yaniv Salama is the executive director of the Salamanca Foundation, an NGO working with the indigenous Jewish communities of the Middle East and North Africa. It is from this perch that Yaniv has observed the many traditional and non-traditional iterations of Judaism, and how they relate to the more familiar Judaism practiced in the Western World. Yaniv also spent a decade in journalism covering politics and national security in the Middle East.
If my work examining the effects of polarization for VoP has taught me anything, it is that the skill of the Jewish people is its remarkable ability to meld into one cohesive whole, despite our luminous individualism, diverging opinions, and diverse backgrounds. What I have come to understand is that this is not just a sociological curiosity, but a deeply spiritual imperative. The Voice of the People, like the Jewish People, is not merely a melting pot but a crucible of shared destiny, forged through centuries of resilience and renewal. Yet while enduring, it is also fragile. It is through this lens that I wish to reflect on this unique moment in time and this unique moment in our shared history.
Together we have endured nearly two years of war, waged both in Israel and in our communities around the world. I say we, because the Jewish people are one organic entity, and the pain of one Jew in Nir Oz or in Amsterdam reverberates in Sydney and beyond. Likewise, the moral weight of one act affects the spiritual balance of the entire people. Such is the reality of a people bound by covenant and conscience. Therefore after nearly two years of fighting, the need for societal healing is not just urgent, it is existential. The devastation of conflict leaves behind more than rubble, it fractures identity, isolates individuals, and corrodes the bonds that once held communities together. At this moment, the Jewish concept of unity offers a profound blueprint for recovery, and there is no better time for its application than the run up to Rosh HaShanah.
The Jewish people are one organic entity, and the pain of one Jew in Nir Oz or in Amsterdam reverberates in Sydney and beyond.
This year the Jewish New Year serves as a solemn opportunity for introspection, repentance, and redemption. It reminds us that healing begins with soul-searching on both personal and communal levels.
Maimonides, one of Jewish History’s great analytical minds, taught that there are transgressions that are amenable to correction if one has a meaningful desire to do so, and there are misdeeds so unique in their severity, acts so abhorrent, that the consequence is a forfeiture of one’s place in the world to come, and the transgressor being lost spiritually for eternity. One such example is leading a community astray, effectively taking away a community from what the Jewish people are and represent. Alternatively, directly attacking one’s community, or removing oneself from that community by placing themselves above them, results in that same spiritual loss. Because when that community ultimately comes to their senses, improves themselves, that solitarian or skeptic is not counted among them. Repentance therefore, is not part of his calculation because he has not moved down that path together with his community.
Maimonides explains that on Rosh HaShanah, we are judged according to the majority of our actions, that quantity as well as quality are at play, and if the majority of the community, however small to the positive side, is in the positive balance then we all survive.
On Rosh HaShanah, we are judged according to the majority of our actions, that quantity as well as quality are at play, and if the majority of the community, however small to the positive side, is in the positive balance then we all survive.
Maimonides
The entire nation is judged on the majority. But there is also a warning of a deeper danger; the abandonment of community. To lead others astray, or to remove oneself from the collective journey is to risk exile. In the aftermath of war, this teaching resonates powerfully. Healing cannot be a solitary act. It must be undertaken together, with each member walking the path of renewal alongside their people.
The call of the shofar, just like the calls to action of the people, are telling us to reflect, reset, and reimagine who we are and who we wish to become.
Rosh Hashanah’s significance lies in its call to return to the essence of who we are, and who we are meant to be. Just as God is one, so too must we strive to be one. The world is watching how the Jewish People will rise from this adversity. Therefore we must not pass the fulcrum point where division becomes irreparable. Instead, we must embrace the eternal component within each of us, recommit to our shared values, and walk together toward healing. In doing so, we not only redeem ourselves, we offer a model of resilience and unity to a world desperately in need of both.
The call of the shofar, just like the calls to action of the people, are telling us to reflect, reset, and reimagine who we are and who we wish to become. Each new year holds the promise of growth and transformation. Yet renewal is not passive, it asks something of us. Rosh Hashanah also calls us to accountability, to examine our actions, acknowledge our missteps, and seek forgiveness from those we’ve wronged. It’s a time to take ownership of our choices and recommit to living with integrity. In doing so, we honor Maimonides’ deep wisdom of this tradition which teaches that true renewal begins with honest reckoning. May this new year bring healing and the strength to walk forward with unity and renewed purpose.
Shanah Tovah
Publish date: September 4th
By: Yaniv Salama
