Lilli Jennison’s Rosh Hashanah Message for 2026

Rosh Hashanah asks us to look both backward and forward — to reflect on who we have been, who we want to become, and what we hope to carry with us into another year. This year, I find myself thinking about what it means to be openly and proudly Jewish in a world where doing so can sometimes feel complicated.
My grandfather was a Holocaust survivor. After the war, he never understood why someone would choose to advertise that they were Jewish. Why wear a kippah? Why wear a Jewish star? After what he had survived, being visibly Jewish represented a vulnerability he understood better than most.
I have always made a different choice. I make sure I have a Jewish star around my neck at all times. It is part of me. I wear it because I am proud of who I am and where I come from.
But lately, I have thought about my grandfather’s words more than I wish I had to.
Recently, I watched a video of an Israeli woman being refused service at a brow salon because she was Israeli. Watching it was heartbreaking. No one should walk into a business and be treated differently simply because of where they come from or who they are. There was something about it that felt far too reminiscent of the stories we have heard our entire lives as Jews — and of the experiences that shaped my grandfather’s view of the world.
I don’t want to live in a world where I have to think twice before putting on my Jewish star. I don’t want to wonder whether someone will see it and, without knowing my name or anything about me, decide they don’t like me. I don’t want my grandfather’s question — Why advertise that you’re Jewish? — to suddenly feel relevant again. I want to wear my star for the same reason I always have: because I am Jewish, I am proud of it, and it is part of who I am.
Being proudly Jewish is not only about refusing to hide. It is also about making sure there is something beautiful and meaningful for the next generation to inherit.
I find an unexpected metaphor for that in one of my favorite hobbies: needlepoint. A canvas is completed one stitch at a time. One stitch may seem insignificant, but thousands eventually create something beautiful, lasting and worth passing down.
Jewish continuity feels much the same. It is built through thousands of small acts: gathering around a holiday table, telling the stories of those who came before us, displaying a mezuzah, wearing a Jewish star, making family recipes, celebrating our holidays and teaching our traditions.
My grandfather’s generation kept those traditions alive through circumstances I can hardly imagine. Now it is our responsibility not only to preserve them, but to make sure the next generation inherits a Judaism they are proud to carry forward.
This Rosh Hashanah, I will keep wearing my star. And I will keep stitching.

Lilli Jennison is the Creative Director for Atlanta Jewish Times.