This week’s Haftarah brings me back to Jerusalem, of course.

Jerusalem, as a city of prophets and a place for G-d’s vision to come alive, a city with blood, tears, hopes and joy all intertwined with each other in one giant ball of cosmic energy too tight and ready to burst out.

It always seems to me that prophecies in the Torah have been proven time and again to be true in our times. As we come closer to Rosh ha-Shana, the chapters of נביאים (prophets) become lighter in the mood if I can say it this way.

With today’s world politics, weather patterns, information floods and the like, the words of the prophet do not seem to ring true. I do see the “darkness” that seems to cover all “the peoples”, but where is the light for Israel? Most of the nations turn back to familiar routes of anti-Semitism, people are at each other’s throats more than ever, and we do not look like a loving bunch.

Doesn’t the prophet articulate the words of G-d:

But do we really resemble doves? With our virtual conversations on Facebook and other social platforms, do we turn into a crowd of foul-language spitting, hate-producing zombies? Sometimes I want to start crying in the morning.

On the other hand, Israel is on the rise economically, politically (forging relationships with countries that were never friendly), socially. We have an abundance of Jewish learning resources available and a growing number of people interested in them. Things that were luxuries a mere 30-40 years ago are now commonplace.

Reading these lines does give me hope. Hope for a better year 5779 to come soon, hope for personal and community happiness, hope for peace, however elusive this hope maybe today.

May we all merit this future!

Shabbat Shalom!