This Year, We Choose Community

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Sep 10, 2026

This Year, We Choose Community

Marc reflects on a central teaching of the season: while teshuvah calls us to personal reflection, growth, and repair, Judaism reminds us that transformation happens in community.

Written by

Rabbi Marc Baker

President and CEO, CJP

The High Holidays ask us to consider who we've been and who we hope to become. They challenge us to repair what needs repairing in our world. Yet our tradition reminds us that we find strength and hope when we show up for one another and remain connected to community.

In a moment when so many people feel isolated or divided, this message feels especially important. For generations, Jewish community has helped sustain us through challenge and celebration alike, and continues to be a source of resilience and possibility.

This year, more than ever, that means choosing each other, and our community, every time.

Thank you for all you do to strengthen Jewish life and community. Wishing you and your loved ones a Shanah Tovah, a sweet, meaningful, and hopeful new year.

Rabbi Marc Baker

President and CEO, CJP

As President and CEO of Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston (CJP), Marc Baker leads the organization in its mission to inspire Jewish life and ignite positive change in Greater Boston, in Israel, and across the globe. He champions CJP’s efforts to build partnerships, develop resources, mobilize volunteers, and put innovative philanthropy into practice. Marc regularly writes, speaks, and teaches about leadership, community, and civic life, bringing the voice of Jewish tradition to contemporary issues. Marc graduated from Yale University in 1997 with a bachelor of arts in religious studies and received his master’s degree in Jewish education from The Hebrew University in 2002. Before coming to CJP, Marc served as head of school at Gann Academy in Waltham. Born in Lynnfield, Marc currently resides in Brookline with his wife, Jill, and they have four children.

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