Crif | Rosh Hashana - President Yonathan Arfi shares his wishes for the Jewish New Year

Shana Tova!

The year 5784 of the Jewish calendar is coming to an end. It leaves gaping wounds in our hearts. It leaves scars in our minds that are still burning.

One year after October 7, we will say "Shana Tova", so that the fatal procession of suffering from the past year may fade away. As the year 5785 begins, we will have to find the strength to hope again.

In the Jewish tradition, time belongs to Man. It is our actions, our wishes, our hopes that outline the contours of our collective destiny. By wishing "Shana Tova", each of us commits to act in an attempt to make the world a better place.

Making the world a better place first of all means fighting servile hypocrisies, and moral and intellectual confusions that corrupt minds and weaken our societies.

By shouting “Shana Tova” tonight, we will denounce the guilty passions of those who see resistance fighters where the world sees terrorists.

In 5785, we will once again thwart the accusatory inversion that seeks to Nazify the Jews by accusing Israel of the ultimate crime of genocide.

By wishing ourselves “Shana Tova” tonight like hundreds of generations before us, we will remind ourselves that those who want to destroy Israel and annihilate the Jewish people will fail, as all those who preceded them have failed.

In 5785, so that French Jews can continue to make their way in the Republic, we will remain French citizens, Jewish and proud. We will not yield to those who make hatred of Israel an electoral matter, and the stigmatization of Jews a campaign slogan.

As we celebrate Rosh Hashanah tonight, we will wish the world a happy and sweet year, and demand, again and again, the release of the 101 hostages held by Hamas.

In 5785, we will continue to fight all supporters of hatred and division, to rebuild harmony in the Republic.

Let us all say "Shana Tova" so that the "time of peace" succeeds the "time of war" and together let us hope that renewal prevails over new beginnings.

I wish us all a year of peace, commitment and joys to be rediscovered,

Shana Tova,

Crif President Yonathan Arfi