Our Voices

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth....
And God said, ‘Let there be light.’”
Each year when we begin Bereshit, we return to the moment when creation itself was fragile and when the world hovered between darkness and light, chaos and hope.
This week, those words feel especially close to our hearts.
Because as we begin again, as we read about the birth of light, we are also witnessing light breaking through our world:
The release of Israeli hostages.
The families who are, at last, able to hold someone they feared they might never see again.
It is a sacred and complicated joy. A joy that comes with tears, with prayers still unanswered, with hearts that still ache for those who remain captive.
And yet, in this moment, we honor the light that has returned, even if it flickers.
When we hear families recite the Shehecheyanu, it is more than a ritual blessing.
It is a cry of gratitude.
It is the sound of breath returning after being held too long.
It is a reminder that, in Jewish life, we name even the smallest glimpse of redemption.
“Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha’olam, shehecheyanu, v’kiy’manu, v’higiyanu laz’man hazeh.”
Blessed are You, Source of Life, who has given us life, sustained us, and brought us to this moment.
That blessing is the essence of Bereshit.
It’s what it means to begin again, and how to trust that light will return, that life can reemerge, that goodness is still possible.
As educators, caregivers, and community builders, we live in that same rhythm of creation.
Each day we bring light into the lives of children and families.
We nurture curiosity, comfort fear, and celebrate wonder.
We model for our students and for one another that even in times of uncertainty, we can still say: Let there be light.
So this week, as we begin the Torah, and as we hold in our hearts the families saying Shehecheyanu for their loved ones’ return,let’s allow that blessing to echo through us too.
May it remind us that beginnings are sacred,
that hope is holy,
and that even after the darkest night, the world is still being created, one breath, one prayer, one act of love at a time.
“And God saw that the light was good.”