Some beautiful words of reflection on the eve of Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Hebrew year.  May we be sealed in the Book of Life, with hope and strength to carry us forward.  Challenge is Not the Opposite of Blessing, It's Often the Beginning of It by Rabbi Mendel Mintz There’s a pattern in Judaism/Torah.  A pattern we don’t always want but we always need. When G-d wanted to make David a king… He didn’t give him a crown. He gave him Goliath. When He wanted to make Joseph a leader… He didn’t give him a palace. He sent him to prison. When G-d wanted to elevate Moses - he didn’t give him a stage, he gave him decades in the wilderness. When G-d wanted to make Esther a queen, (in the Purim story), he gave her a crisis and Haman. Time and again, we see:  G-d doesn’t elevate people through ease, rather through struggle. Because it’s not despite the challenge that we rise.  It’s through it. That’s how the human spirit is made and rises higher.  We don’t know what the new year will bring. But we do know this:  We were not born for comfort.  We were born for meaning. We weren’t placed in this world to hide from its problems — we were created to illuminate and solve them. And if, this year, you find yourself walking through a wilderness… or standing before your own personal or professional Goliath… Remember: that’s not a detour from your destiny. That is your calling. May this be the year G-d transforms our struggles into strength… May this year bring peace and healing to all. L’shana Tova — may it be a good and sweet new year.