By Andrew Goretsky
As we gather for Rosh Hashanah, this season of reflection and renewal, I find myself thinking about stones — specifically, the weathered limestone walls of a small synagogue I visited this summer in Dubrovnik, Croatia.
Walking through the narrow streets of that ancient city this past summer, I visited what may be the world’s oldest Sephardic synagogue still in use. Established in 1546 by Jews fleeing the Spanish Expulsion of 1492, this sacred space has endured for nearly five centuries. It survived the great earthquake of 1667, the horrors of World War II and the Croatian War of Independence in the 1990s. Each time, the community rebuilt, restored and renewed this sacred space.
Standing in that sanctuary, I was struck by a profound truth: We are part of an unbroken chain of resilience that stretches back millennia.
Yet as I prepare to observe the High Holy Days with my family and community here in Philadelphia, I cannot ignore the shadows gathering around us. As senior regional director for ADL’s Philadelphia office, I witness the daily rising tide of antisemitism that has reached levels we haven’t seen in generations. Pennsylvania alone saw 465 antisemitic incidents in 2024 — an increase of 18% from the previous year.
Just last year, I wrote about having to hire security for my son’s bar mitzvah, a precaution that would have been unthinkable during my own childhood when synagogue doors remained unlocked and guards were unheard of. Since then, we’ve endured even darker chapters: the Molotov cocktail attack on Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home, the tragic murders of Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky after leaving a Jewish event in Washington D.C., and the firebombing of peaceful marchers calling for the release of hostages.
At my son’s bar mitzvah, I shared words I had written during a time of personal uncertainty, reflecting on what it means to be part of the Jewish community. I told him that we are blessed to be part of a people that has “survived and thrived for millennia,” and that this community would bring him “joy and resilience” wherever life might take him.
Those words ring even truer today. Just as that Dubrovnik synagogue has weathered centuries of storms, our community continues to demonstrate the same stubborn refusal to be broken by hatred.
But resilience alone is not enough. As we stand at the threshold of 5786, we must couple our historical strength with contemporary action. We cannot allow the normalization of antisemitism to become our inheritance to the next generation.
During these Days of Awe, as we engage in cheshbon hanefesh — the accounting of our souls — we must ask ourselves hard questions: What kind of world are we creating for our children? How do we balance the joy of celebration with the vigilance required for safety? How do we maintain hope while confronting hate?
The answers lie not just in individual reflection, but in collective commitment. We must build coalitions across communities, recognizing that hatred against one threatens us all. We must demand that our institutions — from schools to social media platforms — treat antisemitic conspiracy theories with the same urgency they finally brought to pandemic misinformation. We must support comprehensive approaches to combat extremist violence, whether it emerges from the far right or far left.
Most importantly, we must continue to show up — to celebrate our traditions proudly, to support one another in times of challenge, and to model for our children what it means to be part of something larger than ourselves.
At my son’s bar mitzvah, I reminded him that “none of your accomplishments are your own” — that behind every milestone stands a community of teachers, friends, family and fellow congregants who make individual success possible. The same principle applies to our collective resilience. We achieve more together than we ever could alone.
As we prepare to hear the shofar’s call to awakening, let us draw inspiration from those ancient stones in Dubrovnik and the countless other sacred spaces where Jews have gathered through the centuries to pray, to learn and to renew their commitment to each other. Let us remember that every generation faces its challenges, but also its opportunities to build a better world.
The liturgy reminds us that on Rosh Hashanah it is written and on Yom Kippur it is sealed. As we write the story of 5786, let it be a year where we refused to normalize hatred, where we chose hope over fear, and where we demonstrated once again that the Jewish people’s greatest strength has always been our commitment to one another, to our larger community (Jewish and non-Jewish), and to the values that have sustained us across millennia.
May this new year bring peace to our communities, safety to our celebrations and the wisdom to transform our resilience into lasting change.
L’shana Tova — may it be a good year for us all.
Andrew Goretsky, Ed.D., is the senior regional director for the Philadelphia office of the Anti-Defamation League, serving Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey and Delaware.