L’Shana Tova!

Now that we have entered the Days of Awe between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, I’ve been thinking about what it means to begin a new year—and what we choose to do with the opportunity we’ve been given.

First, a huge thank you to our Jewish Practice Committee, Mike Stombaugh, Rabbi Benjamin, the Temple Sinai Board, and all of the many volunteers who help make High Holy Days possible and meaningful. It takes a village to create these experiences, and I’m grateful for everyone who makes the effort to be here.

This year, I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to show up.

Over Labor Day weekend, I had the honor of attending the memorial service for beloved Reno pediatrician and Temple Sinai member Dr. David Zucker. I know many of you were there, too.

I had seen Dr. Zucker at Temple just a couple of weeks before we lost him. He had come to observe a yahrzeit, and he asked how my mother and brother were doing. I wasn’t one of his patients, and it had probably been close to 40 years since I had seen another doctor in his pediatric group. Yet somehow, he remembered me and my family.

He was joyful and vibrant and genuinely interested in people. In that moment at Temple, it felt like we were hitting it off—having a great conversation and really getting along. So I wasn’t surprised to hear, at his memorial service, hundreds of people tell their own version of the same story.

It was incredibly inspiring to hear how one person had touched so many lives throughout Reno. Dr. Zucker made people feel seen. He remembered them. He cared about them. And when it was time to say goodbye, the community showed up for him in return.

We don’t necessarily talk about New Year’s resolutions when we talk about Rosh Hashanah. We talk about introspection, teshuvah, making amends, and considering who we want to be in the year ahead.

But there is something in common between this Jewish practice and the resolutions many of us make at the beginning of a new year: the opportunity to pause, take stock, and rededicate ourselves to what matters.

If there was ever a life that made me want to resolve to love more people, care about more people, and show up for more people, it was Dr. Zucker’s.

A girlfriend once asked my advice about whether she should travel a really long and inconvenient distance to attend a friend’s wedding. I asked her: Would you make that same difficult trip to attend your friend’s funeral?

She said yes.

“Then go to the wedding,” I told her.

Because showing up is one of the greatest ways we tell people that they matter.

So, during these Days of Awe, I’m making my own resolution: I’m recommitting to showing up for you.

I hope you’ll invite me to your birthdays, your graduations, your celebrations, and the moments in between. I would be honored to be there for the things that matter to your life and your family.

And I hope each of us finds our own way to rededicate ourselves this year—to purpose, to kindness, and to one another.

May this be a year of connection, community, and togetherness.

L’Shana Tova.