Rabbi Max Fox The High Holidays are quickly approaching. Jews who are usually invisible during the year, suddenly reappear in the synagogue at this high point in the Jewish calendar. The synagogue is the oldest institution in Jewish life. When the Jews wandered in the desert after their exodus from Egypt, they were commanded by G-d: “Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them” (Exodus 25:8). In days gone by, the synagogue was the first priority of our people. The great King David expressed it best in his poignant plea to the Almighty:

“One thing I ask of the Lord, one thing I desire – that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the pleasantness of the Lord and to meditate in his sanctuary” (Psalm 27).

The synagogue is Israel’s life stream. When the Temples of old were destroyed, when the pride of our people was shattered, it was the synagogue which made us live again. It was the synagogue which kept us together. A prominent rabbi once expressed this strong relationship between the Jew and the synagogue: “A Jew has not found his people unless he has found his way into the synagogue.” Jewish identification begins and ends with the synagogue. The soul of the Jewish people is its religion and the soul of that religion is the synagogue.

The synagogue is more than bricks and stones. The synagogue is the arsenal of our faith, the source of tradition and inspiration, the link to our past, the key to our future, and the most powerful force for our survival as a people. More than any other institution in Jewish life, the synagogue is the lifeline of our people, for it represents the hopes, the dreams, the prayers, the traditions, the folklore and the wisdom of our people.

We must do all in our power to keep alive and burning this Divine “Eternal Light.” Let this be our “Holy Mission” for the coming New Year.