Mitchell Kaye's Rosh Hashanah Message for 2025

Mitchell Kaye shares his thoughts and inspiration for the new year.

By Mitchell Kaye September 17, 2025, 2:13 pm Edit

Mitchell Kaye served five terms in the Georgia House of Representatives and is a frequent traveler to Israel.

Chazak V’Ametz! My message to the people of Israel, families of the hostages or the Israeli government would not be the parting words that Moses gave to Joshua as the Children of Israel were getting ready to enter the Promised Land…Chazak V’Ametz, be strong and courageous! The Israeli people, despite the national trauma of October 7th, have shown remarkable resilience and courage and strength. In war zones people tend to flee. But in this war, Jews and our Gentile friends from around the world have returned to Israel as lone soldiers, as volunteers and to give emotional support to her citizens. I have seen this firsthand in my four trips to the Holy Land after October 7 with another scheduled in a few weeks.

My message is to my fellow Jews in the Diaspora: Be strong and courageous in supporting our brothers and sisters in the Holy Land and in standing up as proud Jews.

Hashem did not bring us this far to bring us this far! The people of Israel have taught us diaspora Jews a big lesson in their strength, in their faithfulness to G-d and their abounding courage.

As the scourge of antisemitism rears its ugly head, we need to double and re-double our efforts to stand as proud Jews, as our brothers and sisters in Israel do every day. Despite the apparent difficulties they face, Israelis continue to be at or near the top of all countries in a “Happiness Index.” This is confirmed by data from the World Bank, of the 38 OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) nations, only Israel has a fertility rate above the Zero Population Growth replacement level of 2.1 and stands at 2.9 Not only the religious, but many secular Israelis are also having large families. In comparison, the US is at 1.6 births per woman. Happy people want to bring children into this world, as the opposite is equally true.

Let’s hear good news out of Israel with the safe and speedy return of all the hostages and for peace and healing for all those who need a physical or spiritual refua shlaima!

Warm wishes from my family to yours for a Happy, Healthy and Sweet New Year, L’Shana Tova U’metuka!