Rabbi Jason Holtz’s Rosh Hashanah Message for 2026

A few months ago, I met a visiting Israeli rabbi for coffee at a restaurant close to my synagogue. As we were talking at the counter, the barista noticed the Israeli’s accent and asked where she was from. Israeli accents aren’t always immediately recognizable to a lot of people. Even before she had a chance to answer, I instantly felt nervous. How was the barista going to respond? In a fraction of a second, my mind raced through all the ways this could turn uncomfortable. Fortunately, reality was much nicer than my worries. When my Israeli colleague responded without hesitation, “Israel,” the barista had a lovely reply. She smiled, said that she wasn’t Jewish, but that her college roommate was and she shared that her roommate had spent a semester studying abroad in Israel and came back loving it, and with great stories. It was a really nice moment. Not only did my imagined worst-case-scenarios not come true, but I actually walked away feeling how nice it was that someone saw a Jew and their associations were positive.
Sadly, we all know about the rise in antisemitism and antizionism, and I suppose that’s why there’s a greater interest in the question of what it means to be Jewish today. While people disagree over whether or not they’re two sides to the same coin, they share at least one thing in common – they portray Jews and the Jewish people in a way that is unrecognizable to me.
I’m fortunate in that I’ve lived in several different Jewish communities around America and also Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and London. These places are all very different from one another, but there’s things that I found in common. I remember as a student at Tel Aviv University trying to find a seat in a crowded cafeteria. I ended up sharing a booth with an Israeli student. We started chatting, and by the end of lunch, I had an invitation for Shabbat dinner with their family. They didn’t think of themselves as religious, but they lit Shabbat candles and said kiddush, and it all seemed so familiar. So did the Passover seder that my wife and I were invited to in London. Not everything was the same, but usually the differences were just a source of interest.
So, what does it mean to be Jewish today? Part of being Jewish today involves some anxiety, just as I was anxious when the barista asked the Israeli where she was from. But we can’t let our Judaism just be in response to whatever is happening on the news. As I write this, it’s the middle of the month of Elul, the period leading up to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. So being Jewish “today” means being a Jew entering the High Holy Days. It is a time to reflect on who we’ve been and who we want to be, as Jews and as people. May our reflections and our answers to those questions lead us to a good year ahead. Shanah Tovah.

Rabbi Jason Holtz is the Rabbi for Temple Kehillat Chaim.