The following is the video and full text of Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s Rosh Hashanah message to the Jewish people:
Dear sisters and brothers from all over the world, Jewish communities big and small, Shanah Tovah to all of you! As we welcome the Jewish New Year 5783, I would like to wish you all a sweet and happy new year.
Our ancient Jewish tradition wisely connects the change of seasons with our changes of heart. Indeed, this twilight time between years invites us to embrace change as a people and as individuals. It invites us to reflect on our lives, our choices, and our beliefs. It invites us to question how we can do things better in the coming year—for ourselves, for our families, for our communities. It demands we deepen our attention, and even more so, our intention, to replace bitterness with sweetness.
Jewish tradition teaches us that on Rosh Hashanah we are inscribed in the Book of Life. But we are not only inscribed as individuals. We rise and fall together, as a people. Let us therefore commit to be inscribed in the Book of Life—together. Let us help each other to be inscribed in the Book of Life—together. Let us debate with compassion, disagree without fear, and work towards each other, rather than away from each other.
Let us recall the beauty in our unity. Only thus may we fulfill the words of the Psalmist, King David: “May there be peace within our walls and security within our citadels. For the sake of my brothers (and I add, sisters) and friends, I say—peace be with you.”
From your home away from home, here in the State of Israel, to your homes around the world, I wish you all, Shanah Tovah U’metukah. Ketivah Ve’chatimah Tovah.