L’shana Tovah! United Hebrew Congregation navigates to a new venue as a new year begins

L’shana Tovah!

I am awestruck at how much change has been happening for our United Hebrew Congregation community since my last visit to Terre Haute.

Moving from one home to another is never easy, but moving an entire congregation from the place where it worshipped, celebrated lifecycle events and welcomed visitors to a new (and smaller) home was a huge undertaking — oy! Mazel tov for making it this far, and let us pray for wisdom and understanding as we navigate our new beginnings in a new location.

Summer adventures

My family and I have treasured these summer days, together and apart. For one week in July, my 17-year-old daughter and I went on a weeklong travel adventure to meet with a college friend of mine and her (now grown) daughters.

This was especially meaningful as my husband Len and I prepare to be empty-nesters in less than a year. We treasured the moments with my parents (all four of them) and siblings who gathered together from various points in the U.S. and Israel to my dad’s and stepmom’s home in Virginia.

We treasured the moments with my parents (all four of them) and siblings who gathered together from various points in the U.S. and Israel.

We were blessed by a visit from my mom and her husband to southern Ohio, and we met them again at the end of the summer in Canton at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Throughout these varied experiences, I remained grateful to have many loved ones together to share happy occasions, especially as we live far from all.

Time to focus our intentions

The customary daily shofar blasts that have begun in some Jewish communities call us to contemplate our lives, as a community, as family members and as individuals. This year, September begins about halfway through the Hebrew month of Elul. Elul gives us the opportunity to focus our intentions — our kavannot — on spiritual preparation for the upcoming Jewish Days of Awe that include Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and days in between.

There is a tradition on the seventh day of Elul to reflect on the spiritual meaning of the remarriage of Moses’s parents, Amram and Joheved, who had separated before his birth.

Even in the absence of a shofar sound, we can notice and hone our thoughts and spiritual focus. For example, there is a tradition on the seventh day of Elul (the day on which I am writing this piece) to reflect on the spiritual meaning of the remarriage of Moses’s parents, Amram and Joheved, who, according to Midrash, had separated before his birth.

We reunite and reflect

Jewish oral tradition teaches that Amram had divorced Joheved after Pharoah had issued the decree to kill all male children of Israelites.

After being rebuked by their daughter Miriam (who pointed out that Pharoah’s decree was only against males but her father’s was against both males and females), Amram reconsidered, and he and Joheved reunited before Moses’s birth.

Sometimes we need time together and time apart to contemplate how our own behavior may help or hurt our relationships with loved ones.

That we mark this anniversary of a family reuniting on 7 Elul leads to all kinds of ideas about personal behavior. We contemplate how personal pretenses can lead to the sin of stubbornness and separation from those we love. We can reflect on times we have allowed our pride or fears to get the best of us.

Sometimes we need time together and time apart to contemplate how our own behavior may help or hurt our relationships with loved ones.

May we take the days ahead to reflect upon our own actions over the past year and how we may have missed the mark with others, and let us carry hope that we can learn from our mistakes.

I look forward to celebrating the Yomim Noraim (Days of Awe) together.

Rabbi Jennifer Lewis will serve UHC Terre Haute during the 2026-27 academic year.