Last year, on the night before Rosh Hashanah, Israel was under missile attack from Iran for roughly two hours. Remarkably, I had the great fortune of getting stuck in the safe room (mamad) of a South African manicurist on the 22nd floor of her building in Netanya. So while the sirens were blaring, I was – perhaps absurdly – being pampered with a pedicure.
It was the second attack from Iran for seasoned Israelis, the first having occurred in April 2024, but it was my first experience living under a blitz. I chose “apocalyptic blue” for my toenails – just in case it was going to be the end of the world as we knew it.
While the irony of getting a pedicure during a missile strike still makes me chuckle, the months that followed were no laughing matter. Almost a year later, this past June, we all endured not just countless sirens but a full 12 days under sustained attack from Iran as Israel roared like a lion, as the name of the military operation symbolized, to push back against a nuclear threat dead set on our destruction.
That campaign followed the decimation of Hezbollah to our north through the remarkable pager operation, which paved the way for the fall of the brutal Assad regime – another mortal enemy. A friend of mine who made aliyah and joined the IDF in the 1990s recalled how, back then, Syria was the primary concern of Israeli defense strategy.
Today that regime is gone, the Syrian threat has been reduced, and Israeli forces operate as needed on the totality of the Golan Heights and beyond. That’s nothing short of incredible.
Symbolism of Rosh Hashanah
Each year at the Rosh Hashanah table, we use special simanim – symbolic foods – to wish for a good year, both personally and nationally. Interestingly, nearly half of those simanim invoke the downfall of our enemies. This year, we can look back and say that many of them have indeed been decimated. Of course, not all have met their end – yet. Still, we remain hopeful that justice will come, may that be soon!
This month alone has been especially painful: a terror attack in Jerusalem that claimed the lives of six innocent commuters, whose only “crime” was being Jewish. It stirred haunting memories of the late 1990s and early 2000s, when suicide bombers regularly targeted buses and cafés.
I remember lying awake at night, thousands of miles away in Houston, deeply burdened by the suffering of my Israeli brothers and sisters, wondering how they could clean up and move on so swiftly.
Also this month, an Israel Air Force strike on a Hamas meeting in Qatar seems to have missed its target.
Then, in the US, came the tragic assassination of Charlie Kirk, whose death hit many Israelis hard. In a world where true friends of Israel are increasingly rare, he stood out. In my new hometown of Netanya, I read that a traffic circle has already been named in his honor, recognizing his courage to speak truth about Jews and Israel, even at great personal risk.
Significance of memory
Memory is central to Rosh Hashanah. One of its traditional names is Yom Hazikaron – the Day of Remembrance – and one of the core prayers of the holiday is Zichronot, Remembrances.
Still, memory can be a double-edged sword. Some memories bring warmth and gratitude; others, pain and grief. We look back on a year marked by both resounding victories and aching losses. Our hostages are still not home. Our soldiers put their lives on the line every day. Hamas remains entrenched in Gaza. The Houthis, though their leadership has been eliminated, continue to fire missiles and rob us of peace and sleep.
As we enter this new year, we remember the fear in the shelters, the heartbreak of lives lost, and the few brave friends who stood with us when so many stayed silent or worse. We also remember the fierce resilience of this nation, the courage of our soldiers, and the miracles we sometimes forget to call miracles.
Rosh Hashanah is not just a time to look back; it’s a time to look forward. So we pray: for the return of our hostages, the safety of our soldiers, and the strengthening of the bonds among all who love and defend this land. We pray not only for justice against our enemies but for true peace for our people, in every sense of the word.
“May He who makes peace in the heavens bring peace to us and to all of Israel. Amen.”
The writer is a recent new immigrant from Houston, Texas. Formerly a professor of English as a second language to international students at Houston Community College and University of Houston, she is currently a lecturer of English at Bar-Ilan University and Ruppin Academic College.