During a recent Shabbat — the Jewish day of rest — a college student came to services at the Satellite Beach synagogue on his own and with tears in his eyes, bemoaned the troubled state of the world around him.
There, amid the prayers, the blessings and the greetings, the student, who wasn’t religious, found a needed spiritual connection.
“He said he felt terrible about what’s happening in the world, and what we’ve come to,” said Rabbi Zvi Konikov of the Chabad of the Space and Treasure Coasts.
“I wouldn’t say we have a huge bevy of people rushing to the synagogue, but I do see that there is more interest and people wanting to come. People are searching for truth.”
The vibe checks are expected to pick up next week as Rosh Hashanah, the two-day holiday known as the Jewish New Year, begins at sundown Monday.
The holy period — typically a time synagogue are packed around the world — unlocks a host of ancient traditions, along with the sounds of shofars and ancient prayers during a 10-day period of spiritual awakening known as the Days of Awe.
Already a time of deep reflection and reconnection with God’s forgiveness, judgement and kingship, the holy days are being met by some with growing trepidation. Concerns continue over anti-Semitism, Israel’s war with Hamas and the plight of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, along with the Sept. 10 assassination of controversial conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.
“Rosh Hashanah is a time of going inward and listening to the Voice of truth…listening to the shofar and asking what is the call right here, right now, to listen to the depths of our souls,” Konikov said.
“People need to also do critical thinking for themselves and be wary, be careful. There is reality and then there are worlds like TikTok and social media.”
IDF officer: ‘These are crazy times’
At the Chabad, those attending will also hear from Dr. Yair Ansbacher, a Israeli Defense Forces reservist and counterterrorism officer, during Yom Kippur, the final Holy Day in the Ten Days of Awe.
Ansbacher, 41, who has authored two books on the situation in Israel and spoke across the globe about the aftermath of Oct. 7, will offer an assessment – and a search for truth – on the Jewish nation’s future as the war in Gaza intensifies amid global protests.
“These are crazy times that we are living in,” said Ansbacher, who will speak on his most recent book, “Like A Lion, He Shall Rise.”
“Part of my mission is to show people what’s going on. I think what we are seeing, the protests, is a symptom of something deeper. People are looking for truth,” he said, adding that part of that search is about grappling with identity.
He recalled being called up for duty on Oct. 7, 2023, as thousands of missiles fell across Israel from Gaza. He started the fateful day preparing to go to a synagogue for the Holy Day but left his home near Jerusalem, where sirens blared continually. He was one of the first reservists to journey toward the border of Gaza where hundreds of Jews, including women and babies, were massacred and burned alive in small villages.
“When we opened those metal doors to the shelters, there was no one inside except for Jews and Israelis,” he said, recalling how first responders located bullet-riddled and bombed-out shelters where Israelis hid during the terrorist attacks.
“It was so clear to me that we were family … everything else was (expletive).”
During the days and weeks after the unprecedented attacks and massacres, he would pray over the remains of the dead, he said.
“I would be asked to close their eyes,” he said.
All of it, the death, the destruction revealed miracles along the way, showing that the connection with God was still there.
The days and weeks that followed were a period of deep hurt and soul searching for many in the Jewish state as the nation went to war with Hamas. Since that time, the Jewish state has struck back across the region in its bid to eliminate Hamas. There remains, however, deep, internal division over how the nation should move forward.
“So we have a God above … we can fight for our freedom, but the big war is not against Hamas, but our identity and deciding which world we want to live in,” he said.
Rosh Hashanah and the upcoming holy days, Konikov said, are meant to reawaken participants to see challenges through the lens of a higher purpose.
“Every garden has weeds. But in the end, we need to be reborn, we need to ask why we are here,” he said.
“We are not alone.”
J.D. Gallop is a criminal justice/breaking news reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallop at 321-917-4641 or jgallop@floridatoday.com. Or X, formerly known as Twitter: @JDGallop
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Rosh Hashanah, Holy Days bring reawakening to Brevard amid anti-Semitism, global protests
Reporting by J.D. Gallop, Florida Today / Florida Today
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