Rabbi Ari Kaiman’s Rosh Hashanah Message for 2025

Last year, our community entered the High Holidays with the theme, From Darkness to Light. I did not yet know how to be at peace with the dark. So, I prayed for the strength to sit with uncertainty, with grief, with shadows not yet lifted.

A year later, I can say that prayer was answered. I am more comfortable in the darkness than I was. I have learned that sometimes all we can do is breathe in the dark, trust one another in the dark, and remember that G-d is present even when the light feels far away.

A year later, I also know that no one wants to stay in the darkness forever. I’m tired of waiting for the light to emerge.

This year, as we approach the High Holidays, I find myself praying again. I am praying for the nightmare of the darkness to shift into a dream for a beautiful future.

The Psalmist says: When G-d restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like dreamers (Psalm 126). It is a psalm of exile and return, of sorrow transformed into joy. It does not deny the tears but insists that tears can water the seeds of redemption.

Those who sow tears shall reap in joy.

Our world is not yet redeemed. War and violence still rage, hostages remain captive. Families still grieve. But if the last year has taught me anything, it is that even in the darkest night we dare not surrender our capacity to dream.

The Jewish dream is ancient and enduring: safety for our people, peace with our neighbors, and a future redeemed from cycles of violence. It is not naive to dream of this. It is our sacred inheritance.

Here in Atlanta, we are called to carry that dream forward through our prayers, our learning, our compassion, and our commitment to each other. May our tears give way to joy, and may our dreams draw us closer to the light G-d still calls us to build.

Ari Kaiman is the rabbi at Congregation Shearith Israel.