The Jewish High Holy Day period begins at sundown Wednesday with Rosh Hashanah, which marks the beginning of the Jewish New Year. The Holy Days are a time for examining one's behavior, introspection, affirmation and spiritual renewal.

Happy New Year to all from The Birmingham Jewish Federation. (There will be no Update Thursday and Friday due to Rosh Hashanah.)

The following is a message from Jimmy Filler, President of The Birmingham Jewish Federation.

As the Jewish New Year begins tonight, we must reflect on last year and look forward to the New Year. For The Birmingham Jewish Federation, this past year has been a great one.

Through relentless hard work we achieved our fundraising goal on a very tough playing field. We owe tremendous thanks to our Executive Director Richard Friedman, his staff and a team of the hardest working volunteers anywhere in this country.

We "old timers," which includes me, have achieved our goal of bringing in new, young leaders who will carry on our mission in the future. There is still a lot of room for new faces to become involved in The BJF, one of the most important parts of our wonderful Jewish community.

I would also like to thank our many Christian friends who stand with us in these times of peril. We could not move forward without your support.

Some of our new BJF leaders are offering important new ideas. One of which is an effort to stop illiteracy. Giving to someone the gift of being able to read is necessary to open the doors of knowledge. Volunteers involved in this wonderful effort already have many success stories to share.

"Our Next 100 Years" (see below link) is growing and also has had another successful year. We hope that in the coming year additional landmark gifts will be forthcoming and will insure our legacy L'dor V'dor -- from Generation to Generation.

QUESTIONS ABOUT ISRAEL

I would like to address, as President of The BJF, some questions and comments I often hear. "Why will Israel not make peace with the Palestinian people? Why are the Israelis still building settlements? There is no give." I am going to answer in the simplest way I can.

(A) First, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, has partnered with Hamas. Hamas has said it will never even recognize the State of Israel and it is committed to the destruction of Israel. So, what they are saying is, "Give us land, and we still will be at war." Does this make sense?

(B) The Palestinians want Israel to give up part of Jerusalem and let it become the capital of the Palestinian state, but Hamas will still be at war with Israel.

(C) Israel would face an unsecured border with the Palestinians; along with Egypt, with its attacks on Israel's Embassy and unrest on the Sinai border; unrest in Jordan, unrest in Syria and Hezbollah on its border with Lebanon. As you can see, this is an intolerable situation where our beloved Israel is in the center of the Lion's Den. None of its neighbors want peace with Israel and they are all looking for its utter destruction.

You can see who in this group truly wants peace, and who in this group would love a long and lasting peace. It's Israel. So, you can see my point of not criticizing our Israeli leaders as they have their hands full in this situation which changes daily.

PEACE TO ALL

Like every year, we begin with the words "Hope is Eternal." We all should pray that the Good Lord will bring peace to all of us.

You can rest assured that The BJF will work as hard as we can to address the many needs in our community. Our fundraising efforts cannot be put on hold even in some of the worst times in the history of our economy. We have too many people who depend on us and we cannot let them down.

Speaking for all of our volunteers, officers, board and staff, we wish you a happy and healthy New Year; one that somehow will come with the miracle of peace. "Shana Tovah" -- may you have a sweet year. We are so grateful for your friendship and support!

Above photo is of BJF President Jimmy Filler, and his wife, Carol.