Hope for a happy year

This is the season of new beginnings. Before you know it, the year will change and it will be 5777. The days leading up to that change are a time to do a little reflecting on life.

I recently heard a rabbi call this time period the season of hope. He challenged his congregation to commit to being hopeful. This message made a lot of sense to me. We could all use a little more hope.

And isn’t that part of what a new beginning is all about? Hope helps us survive: Hope for better times or for a better future. Hope you will learn to live your life in a better way. Hope that you can treat others more kindly. Hope that you can take a step back and appreciate what you have.

It’s always kind of exciting to look at a fresh year and think of the possibilities.  (And we get to do it twice each year! Doesn’t that already make you feel better?)

I hope for all the best for you and your family and for our community here in Rhode Island.

Meanwhile, this issue of The Voice is always one of our biggest of the year. You’ll find what we think is interesting content related to Rosh Hashanah as well as part one of our annual roundup of events from the past year, courtesy of the JTA. There’s also a robust food section with lots of ideas for your holiday table.

But what makes this paper so large is the ads. This is the issue where many of our advertisers and others in the community run their annual holiday greeting ads. To all of our advertisers, we say a big “Thank you!” for your continued support. Without our advertisers’ commitment to our community, you wouldn’t have the benefit of reading your biweekly copy of The Voice.

We also want to say thank you to our advertising manager, Tricia Stearly, for gathering together so many of these ads. She and advertising representative Karen Borger have always done a great job of getting the word out to the business community about the value of advertising in The Voice.

Tricia has many years of experience in the newspaper and advertising business. And with this issue, we say goodbye as she takes her sales experience to other opportunities in the area. We will all miss her, and we wish her well.

As we look toward the new year, we hope you will continue to support our advertisers, that you thank them for their support of the Jewish community and tell them you saw their ad in The Voice.

Thanks for reading us!

L’shanah Tovah!