If I had to describe this year, I would start with a picture of a hug I was lucky to be part of. Holding and being held, as if the world around us had gone quiet for a second. To someone passing by, it was just a happy moment between friends. But inside that moment, there was so much more: the heartbreak of watching someone you love grieve, knowing there is a pain you cannot take away, and the toll of late nights, difficult conversations and responsibilities taken on willingly.

And yet, that was not the whole story. There was also joy and, more than anything, gratitude. Gratitude for the fact that even in difficult times, even when people are carrying pain of their own, there are still those who choose to give something of themselves to others, who choose to stay, to help and to build.

I have been extraordinarily lucky to receive that gift myself: the trust of people who have chosen to work alongside me and to believe in what we are building together, giving their time, energy and hearts to it because they want to make things better. I can only thank God for the people He has placed in my life and for the extraordinary privilege of walking beside them. Perhaps that is also why this year has made me think so much about what it means to be young and Jewish today.

To Be Young and Jewish Today Is to........

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