As we rapidly approach the beginning of the new Hebrew year this coming Shabbat and Sunday, as usual there is good news and bad news.

The good news is, quite simply, we made it.  For those of us who stood in our synagogues last Rosh Hashanah and offered up prayers for another year of life and health, at least as of this writing, those prayers have been answered in the affirmative as we are still around, ready to restart the cycle for the new year, 5787.  For that alone we all need to be grateful.

Sadly, there is plenty of bad news as well.   It is difficult to remember a time since the end of World War II 81 years ago, when the world was in a more precarious situation vis-à-vis our future than it is now.  All one needs do is open one’s eyes and the challenges come into full view.

On the subject of peace in the world, it is obvious that that world is in a state of chaos.  The Russia-Ukraine war, which was going to be a quick slam dunk for the Russians, is now in its fifth year with no clear path to the stoppage of the fighting. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports total Russian personnel losses at approximately 1,497,980 as of September 2026, averaging over 1,500 daily casualties during recent intense fighting. International estimates........

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