It is hard to believe how fast a year can go by when you are focused on serving the contemporary Orthodox community in Bergen. It’s an experience that has opened our eyes into how our neighbors interact, and how we mesh together as a Jewish community that spans a diverse and well-meaning world. We could not make this a successful newspaper without the assistance of all of our well-wishers, readers and advertisers, people who channel us news stories, feature writers, colleagues from the world of Jewish journalism, and all of those who have stepped up to the plate to be part of this adventure. (When one of our colleagues in the news business heard what we were about to do, he told us we were out of our minds… in not so polite terms.)

Our partners in this venture include family members, friends, school reporters, shul reporters, people from local organizations and groups—in a word, all those who care about a Jewish world with the universal values of chesed, tzedakah, midot and avodah, as well as mesorah and Torah.

We knew it would be a gamble and a rollercoaster ride, as well as a learning experience for all of us. We acknowledge that it is our community that makes us strong and inspires us to do better. With all that, next week we will take another gamble and give the weekly newspaper business a shot. We shall see how it goes, and pray it won’t be too bumpy a ride. Thanks for coming along.