In our Rosh Hashanah leader last year, we wrote of the “unmitigated disaster” of the pandemic — and of the Rule of Six, which prevented extended families from celebrating the chagim even in their own houses, let alone in synagogue.

Thanks to the modern scientific miracle of the vaccine, this year will see a return to something at least recognisable as Rosh Hashanah. The pandemic is far from over but we are overall in a far better place. For many in our community, however, the impact remains devastating, with loved ones lost to the virus.

But we can at least now look to a time when Covid-19 is no longer the defining feature of our lives. This is true both in a spiritual and a temporal context. In recent weeks, for example, minds have been focused on the devastating consequences of the US’s capitulation in Afghanistan. Tuesday marked the 20th yarzheit of those who died in the World Trade Centre in 2001; it is a damning indictment of the West’s leadership that the wheel has turned full circle since then and the Taliban are again back in charge in Afghanistan.

This year has seen one huge change in Israel — the removal from office of Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s longest serving prime minister. Whatever one’s view of him, there can be no argument that he was a man of stature, at a time when the lack of serious leaders is a theme in most advanced democracies.

The Abraham Accords, which were agreed days before Rosh Hashanah last year, have proved so far to be exactly what was hoped — a transformative platform for the region, with links between Israel and some of her neighbours growing at great speed and depth. At a time when optimism is understandably in short supply, that is very much a cause for hope. And it is in that vein that we wish all our readers and advertisers Shanah Tovah.