Harvey. Irma. Charlottesville. Barcelona. Trump. Clinton. Obama. Halamish. Kim Jong-un. Iranian threats. Mahwah. Jose?

It seems like it doesn’t take but a blink of an eye for the 24-hour news cycle to turn over one pressing issue into the next.

Last year at Rosh Hashanah, we didn’t know yet who would be the next president of the United States. We didn’t know that the U.S., during President Obama’s last moments in office, would all but feed Israel’s enemies fuel for their anti-Semitic fire when it abstained at the U.N. Security Council from a bill condemning the Jewish state’s settlements.

Now in recent weeks, as we hear the shofar sounds during Elul, we also, as a community, have heard the call for urgent help for our brothers and sisters who live in hurricane-stricken Houston and Florida.

There has been so much that has happened over 5777. We can certainly say that almost every time we reach this part of the year. We don’t know what Tishrei and 5778 will bring.

But we do know that we can never work hard enough as a people to come together no matter our differences. The constant is that sinat chinam will be our undoing. Yet it seems that we’ve gotten more comfortable in our criticism of one another, in issues ranging from tzniut to kashrut to politics. Sometimes these conversations of disagreement are way too public and divisive.

We look forward to the growth of our beautiful, growing and productive Jewish community. If each one of us can change one aspect of our lives for the better, we’ ll grow as a people.

The team at The Jewish Link wants to thank you for your support this year, as readers and advertisers. It means more than we can ever express how important your support has been and hopefully will continue to be. We will continue to work hard to tell the story of our vibrant Jewish community.

With the winds of world conflict and issues of import flowing like a gust of wind, take time to find shelter in the words of our machzorim during the Yomim Noraim. These are the words that matter most.

May we all be blessed to spend time with our families and friends and emerge from the holiday with the spiritual inspiration and guidance from Hashem that we need need to carry ourselves through this new year, 5778. L’shana Tova U’metuka.