There is just over a week left in 2025. It’s hard to believe we are a quarter of the way through the century. 1985 seems like yesterday. Y2K seems like it was just a thing. Time is flying by and yet, each day seems to be a struggle with the rise of Jew hatred.

I’ve found myself reading a lot and listening to a lot of music lately. There are a number of things I’ve read and heard in song lyrics that have spoken to me, so I thought I’d use them as some inspiration as we not only prepare to end the year but also the first quarter of the century.

One of my favorite songs is by Tim McGraw called “Live like you are dying.” It’s the story of a man who is diagnosed with a serious illness, one that might kill him. As a result, he decides to live the type of life he always wanted to. Some of the lyrics of the chorus hit home as they remind me, as the song instructs us, that we don’t have to wait until it’s too late to live the life we want. We can do that now – we can choose to ‘live like we are dying’. Those lyrics are:

And I loved deeper
And I spoke sweeter
And I watched an eagle as it was flyin’
And he said someday I hope you get the chance
To live like you were dyin’

As a Jew, I don’t need to wait to embrace the gifts of Judaism until it is too late. There are so many lessons about how to live our lives to the fullest. To be proud of who we are and what our heritage is. To celebrate the joy of holidays and the lessons they teach us. Hanukkah, which just ended, isn’t about the 8 days of presents. It isn’t Jewish Christmas. It’s a reminder that in the darkness of the world, we have the ability to bring light. Each night, as we light one additional candle, we physically bring more light into the world. Our actions can do this too. We can choose to be kind, to be polite, and to bring light into what has become a very dark world.

I recently helped lead a trip to Israel for 30-45 year olds focused entirely on leadership. Through a combination of being in Israel, working the land, volunteering to help others, text study, listening to speakers including those who lived through the horror of October 7th, we explored a deep connection to Judaism and what our role can be in terms of not just ensuring continuity but building a stronger world. L’Dvor V’Dor, from generation to generation, is not just a motto but a way to live. Picking oranges that were donated to those who were hungry and making sandwiches and giving them out to those defending Israel and the Jewish people were powerful connections not just to Jewish identity but to our history and heritage. Listen and sign along – it’s infectious.

I read a story this week about a high school kicker who missed the extra point that would have tied the state championship game with under a minute left. With only 2 time outs, he figured the game was lost. He hung his head – he cost the team the state championship and missed the last kick of his career.

All of a sudden, his teammates ran over to him, urging him to get ready. He didn’t understand. What could have happened? One of the other team’s players took off his helmet and raised it in the air after their first snap, a personal foul which stopped the clock. They used their time outs and were going to get the ball back. He went to start practicing but everything was put away. Dads of players held up the net and held the ball for him so he could practice before the kick. When he finally took the field, it was a 44 yard field goal – a yard longer than the longest he had ever made.

In his own words, he “started praying to God: Please help me forget about that. Please help me forget about that.” Before he had a chance to attempt the game winning kick, once again in his own words he thought, “I’m glad I get a chance to kick this again because otherwise that was going to be the last time I kicked a football in a game. It can’t get much worse than what just happened.“”

He made the kick, the team won, and he went from losing the state championship on an easy missed extra point to winning it on a career long kick.

This describes Judaism in a nutshell. We’re never as bad as our worst moment nor are we as good as our best. We don’t succeed on our own, we do it as a community. He needed the defense to step up. He needed a bad punt by the other team. He needed help warming up. He got it all. He was never alone. As Jews, we are never alone, we have each other. We have the Jewish community.

October 7th was one of the lowest moments in recent Jewish history. At the critical moment, we failed. 1200 people were murdered. 251 were taken hostage. Since then, the rise of antisemitism is frightening. On December 14, 2025, at a Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach in Australia, a father and son murdered 15 people for the crime of being Jewish. Many more were injured. As we learn more about what they had planned, we got lucky that their IEDs didn’t go off, that the homemade bombs they threw before opening fire didn’t explode. We weren’t alone.

I’ve been to Israel five (5) times since October 7th. I’ve witnessed what happened at Kibbutz Kfar Aza, Kibbutz Alumim, the Nova site. I’ve spent time with regular people who have spent most of the past two (2) years in reserves, defending Israel and the Jewish people. They left their jobs and their families. Their children didn’t know when, or if, they were coming home. They did it for Am Yisrael, the nation of Israel. They did it for Klal Yisrael, the entire people of Israel.

It is a reminder that we all have greatness inside of us. The question is what are we going to do with it. A quarter of the 21st century is about to be behind us. What have we done with that 25 years? Do we want to be a part of greatness? Do we want to help change the world?

The kicker said, “I didn’t get in my own head. The first thing that helped me with that was after I missed the extra point, I didn’t hear anything bad from my teammates. And when I warmed up, everyone told me: “You’re good, bro. You’ve got this. We trust you.” That helped my mindset.”

That’s also Judaism. We don’t believe in L’shan Hara, Hebrew meaning “evil tongue” or “evil speech.” This includes any negative, derogatory, or harmful talk about someone, even if true, that damages their reputation or causes pain. We believe in building each other up, not tearing each other down. In today’s world, with so much divisiveness in the Jewish community, we can take a lesson from this football team and this kicker. If we build each other up, even when angry, frustrated, or disappointed, we can have a bright future. If they had bad mouthed him, talked badly about him and his ability to kick, who knows if he would have made that game winning field goal. The Jewish people are too small to rip ourselves apart. It’s too important to build each other up. We can disagree about anything – even everything – and not engage in L’shon Hara, evil speech.

On our trip to Israel earlier this month, we all had a profound experience. It changed us all in various ways. The picture below, captioned by one of the participants, says it best. “The trip that changed us.” That what Judaism does – it changes us. It helps us be better people. It helps us build a better community, a better world. As we prepare for a new year and the start of the 2nd quarter of the 21st century, this each of our opportunity to make a commitment to being better people helping to build a better world.

As I walked the dog tonight, the lights of the houses across the lake and the moon in the sky were captivating. It showed me the beauty in the world, even with all the ugliness that people create. It reminded me that there is beauty in the world and we, as people, have the opportunity to appreciate and build on the beauty or create ugliness.

Near the end of Live like you are dyin’, Tim McGraw sings,

Like tomorrow was a gift and you’ve got eternity
To think about what to do with it
What did you do with it
What did I do with with it
What would I do with it

As we finish 2025 and start the 2nd quarter of the century, what will you do with the gift of tomorrow?