UH’s Yearly Theme

5787/ 2026–27 Theme

Every year, United Hebrew chooses a theme for the year around which we center our education and engagement activities.  

Eitz Chayim Hi:  Holding Fast to Torah

We live in a time of uncertainty, complexity, and rapid change. Yet as Jews, we are sustained by an enduring source of wisdom: Torah.

Eitz Chayim Hi — It is a Tree of Life to those who hold fast to it. These familiar words remind us that Torah is not simply an ancient text, but the lifegiving foundation of the Jewish people across time and place.

Though ancient, Torah is ever new. Each time we return to it, we discover something different—not because Torah has changed, but because we have changed.

This year, we will give Torah a special focus, exploring the beauty of the scroll itself, the sacred words within it, and the wisdom and personal insights that emerge whenever we encounter our text, our tradition, and one another. Through worship, study, special programs, and community conversation, we will encounter Torah in new and meaningful ways: holding it in our hands, wrestling with its teachings, celebrating its wisdom, and allowing it to shape who we are becoming.

For generations, the Jewish people have held fast to Torah. Yet perhaps the greater truth is this: while we hold Torah, Torahalso holds us. It roots us in history, steadies us through uncertainty, inspires lives of meaning and purpose, and connects us to those who came before and those who will follow. May this be a year in which we hold Torah ever more closely, and in doing so, discover that it has been holding us all along.