EMILY WELSH ON ROSH HASHANAH IS A TIME OF JOY AND, REFLECTION, BOTH CELEBRATORY AND INTROSPECTIVE AND MANY JEWISH LEADERS HERE IN OUR AREA SAY LOOKING BACK ON THIS PAST YEAR CAN BE DIFFICULT. THE SPIRIT OF THESE HOLIDAYS FOR US IS BOTH AND REALLY INTROSPECTIVE. AS RABBI MARK BAKER PREPARES FOR THE JEWISH NEW YEAR. HE SAYS, LOOKING BACK ON THE LAST YEAR IS DIFFICULT. ANTISEMITISM IS ON THE RISE NOT JUST IN MASSACHUSETTS, BUT ACROSS THE NATION. THE RISE OF ANTISEMITISM WHICH HAS REALLY ESCALATED OUR COMMUNITIES SENSE OF ITS OWN VULNERABILITY. JUST FEW WEEKS AGO, A NEO-NAZI GROUP WEARING MASKS HELD ANTI-SEMITIC FROM HIGHWAY OVERPASSES IN SAUGUS AND DANVERS. IN JULY, MEMBERS, THE SAME GROUP PROTESTED OUTSIDE A DRAG QUEEN STORY HOUR IN JAMAICA PLAIN AND LEFT HATEFUL LITERATURE OUTSIDE HOMES AT RANDOM. THEY DON’T DISTINGUISH AMONGST THE BREAKDOWN WITHIN THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OR ANY OTHER COMMUNITY THERE. THEIR HATRED AND THEIR TARGETING IS THE SAME. ROBERT TRESTON IS THE DIRECTOR OF THE ANTIDOTE FORMATION LEAGUE IN NEW ENGLAND. HE SAYS IT’S CRITICAL COMMUNITIES WORK TOGETHER TO CONFRONT THESE HATEFUL GROUPS AND THAT UNITY NEEDS TO BE ALIGNED. YOU KNOW, AT THE THREAT THAT IS COMING TOWARDS US AS. THE JEWISH NEW YEAR BEGINS COMMUNITY LEADERS LIKE RABBI MARK BAKER ARE ALSO LOOKING FORWARD TO WHAT THE NEXT YEAR COULD BRING. I JUST CONTINUE TO BE GRATEFUL TO THE MEMBERS OF OUR COMMUNITY AND THE FRIENDS AND ALLIES BEYOND COMMUNITY FOR THE WAYS THAT THEY CONTINUE TO STEP UP, EVEN IN THE FACE OF. AND IT BRINGS ME A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF HOPE AND EXCITEMENT FOR THE YEAR TO COME. NOW, ROSH HASHANA MARKS THE FIRST OF A SERIES OF HIGH HOLIDAYS THAT WILL TAKE PLACE OVER THE COMING LIVE IN BR