Ihave reflected on the seeming inconsistency between celebrating with wine while the Jewish state, and the Jewish people, are literally and figuratively at war. I have revealed that my children are soldiers in the literal war.

In fact, this past month, my son was able to take leave and visit me from Gaza. Upon his return, in a contemplative moment, I picked up some Chabad-Lubavitch materials in the hope that they would help me reconcile some of the madness in our Jewish world right now. Without this reconciliation and clarity, I could not face the High holy Days with a spirit of optimistic reflection worthy of celebration with wine.

The name of the well-known Chassidic group, “Chabad,” is itself an acronym. It stands for chochmah (wisdom), binah (understanding), and da’at (knowledge). Th

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