Observe the High Holy Days shouldn't be just for God, but also for our fellow human being - opinion

Across the Jewish world, from the Diaspora to Israel, we are witnessing an almost unprecedented coming together. Different communities, people of varied backgrounds, and those from all walks of life have united. On Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, a pivotal moment in the year, when we are judged, we find ourselves stripped down to our most essential selves, gathered as one. Wealth, status, and religious observance matter little; everyone comes together to pray. In this moment, barriers drop, and we assemble as a single, unified community.

The High Holy Days are often considered as times to focus on the theological realm, when we emphasize our individual relationship with the Divine. Indeed, classical Jewish sources reflect this understanding. The Talmud describes Rosh Hashanah as the Jewish Day of Judgment when “all the inhabitants of the earth pass before God like sheep.” Our prayers echo this imagery: “As a shepherd herds his flock, causing his sheep to pass beneath his staff, so do You cause to pass, count, and record, visiting the souls of all living, decreeing the length of their days, inscribing their judgment.” It is a time of reflection on our past deeds and misdeeds, returning to God, repenting, and seeking forgiveness. Theological, not social. God focused, it seems, to the exclusion of our communal life.

However, this is not quite true. There is another theme that permeates these holy days: the relationship between human beings. As Maimonides teaches, “Teshuvah (repentance) and Yom Kippur only atone for sins between man and God… However, sins between man and man, such as injury, theft, or insult, will not be forgiven until one gives back what is owed and appeases the other.” Before Yom Kippur, we are required to settle old disputes and to reconcile with those we have wronged, thus bringing an essential human element to these days of awe.

In his writings, Rabbi Meir Simcha of Dvinsk emphasized that our monotheism, the pillar of Jewish faith, is reflected in our national unity. Our belief in one God must be mirrored in our unity as one people. Belief in one God should push us to be more connected to fellow human beings. As I have noted before, the mystical teaching of the Kabbalists tells us that the strings linking us to the heavens above also bind us to each other.

In our times, this idea seems far less mystical and much more concrete. At the Jewish Learning Exchange (JLE), we have seen this in action. Many young people with little prior connection to their Jewish roots have gathered at our Golders Green Hub, motivated by empathy and curiosity, to become part of our community.

THERE IS power in being part of a community too. This is echoed again in Maimonides: “while individual repentance is always desirable,” he writes, the repentance of a community is even more potent: “Whenever a community repents and cries out wholeheartedly, they are answered immediately.” As the Kol Nidre prayer on Yom Kippur night declares, all are to be included in our congregation, young and old, so called sinners and the righteous.

This unity is not just a spiritual ideal but a tangible call to action. The Yom Kippur goat sacrifice, as Rabbi Meir Simcha also mentions, was meant to atone for the Biblical sin of the brothers selling Joseph. We are reminded never to turn against our brothers and sisters. Instead, we must strive to repair strained relationships and foster a broader sense of unity.

Mobilizing to support those suffering

Suffering, as we have tragically seen, can foster this togetherness. We have witnessed this in the response to the horrors of October 7 in Israel. Communities have mobilized to support Israelis in the South, aiding civilians and soldiers alike. I have personally led groups of students to volunteer in kibbutzim, meet political leaders, and understand the situation better. Through these experiences, we have engendered greater empathy and drawn closer to one another, forming bonds that bring us together.

In the Diaspora itself, there has been a notable increase in unity. For perhaps the first time, university students have received significant support and understanding from older generations, who have now recognized the unprecedented antisemitism on UK campuses and the need to strengthen Jewish identity and education in our challenging times.

As we head into the coming weeks, synagogues will be filled. Whether in a grand synagogue or a smaller, makeshift minyan, I encourage everyone to take a moment amidst the prayers, reading from our mahzor and singing along, to simply stop, breathe, and appreciate those around you.

Each person has faced their own challenges this year, and collectively, we have faced horrors as a People. We make up a vibrant, diverse community. We may be considered individual sheep on this day, but we are also one big, united flock, bound together not only by strings to the heavens but also across the aisles of our synagogues to each other, a united nation. That too is what these days are about.

May we all be inscribed in the Book of Life.

The writer is CEO of JLE, Jewish Learning Exchange.