The Hebrew New Year, Rosh Hashanah, is celebrated Oct. 2-5. At Rosh Hashanah this year, the Jewish people in Portland and the City Council need to do “teshuva,” which is a Hebrew word that means “return.” This year, we need to find the deep connection between us that can bring us back to our shared roots.

Even though I love the state of Maine, I don’t live here. Ten years ago, I moved from Portland to live in Israel with my family, because that is where my heart and the message of the Bible pulled me. There were concerns about safety. In fact, on the night we landed in Israel, a missile from Hamas in Gaza was fired at our new town in Israel.

Yet, a compelling reason to be in Israel is that the land inspires incredible and meaningful passion in one’s soul. Have you ever experienced emptiness? When one walks outside in Israel, he or she may realize the power of God. The ground is part of our story for millennia. In Beersheba, Abraham heard the word of God and the message of monotheism. In Israel, the prophet Isaiah called upon us all to fight for the poor, the orphan and the widow before we do service to God in the temple.

But I go back and forth between Israel and Portland now, as I serve as the rabbi of a congregation in Portland. As I visit my temple in Portland for the Jewish New Year, I am concerned about rising levels of antisemitism. I am a Zionist, meaning I love and support Israel.

Portland City Council recently passed a resolution against Israel calling for a boycott of companies that work with Israel. This caused the people in my congregation to be upset and also afraid. While people may mistakenly believe that there are large numbers of Jews, in fact the Jewish people are a tiny minority in Maine and around the world, and we feel that. We remember how as a religious minority we suffered the most awful persecution in the history of mankind in the Holocaust at the hands of the Nazis.

That being said, I am not losing hope in Portland and not even in the City Council. I know that relationships can have fractures and be mended and healed.

My synagogue was founded on Newbury Street in 1904. In 1954, our synagogue moved to Noyes Street. Our building on Noyes Street is now home to the Portland Community Squash. Some of my congregants lost family members in World War II and others fought overseas in the Korean War or the Vietnam War. We remember past episodes in Portland’s history. We remember when the Ku Klux Klan took over the government institutions of Portland in 1923, and I remember when people didn’t let me, a Jewish person, into your exclusive social club. I remember when a swastika was painted on my synagogue. Some of this happened in the past.

We need to return to good government in Portland to strengthen our community, so that the cry of the prophets from ancient Israel to help the poor, the orphan and the widow is answered at home by us now. Walking in the ways of justice means that Portland must protect all of its minorities, and not discriminate against me, a Zionist Jew.

Rosh Hashanah is a time of reconciliation. I extend my hand to people in Portland so that we may find greater thoughtfulness and understanding in the future. Let us do teshuva, so we may walk in the ways of peace and justice together. Instead of seeking a scapegoat abroad, it’s time for the people of Portland to face the truth, and work hard to confront the real and pressing social justice issues at home.