09/02/2026
🗓️ 5 Ways This Year Is Special!
1. It’s the Longest Year Possible
The Jewish year can run anywhere from 353 days to 385!
Two factors make this happen: A Jewish leap year gets a whole extra month, and the months of Cheshvan and Kislev can vary in length. Put the two together, and the longest possible year is a leap year where both Cheshvan and Kislev stretch to 30 days each—385 days in total. And this year is exactly that!
So make the most of it and pack it with all the Torah, light, and kindness you can.
2. It Begins and Ends with Shabbat
For that to happen, the year has to be a full 385 days long. But a 385-day year doesn’t necessarily start on Shabbat. It can start on a Monday or Thursday too. A 385-day year that begins on Shabbat is a special treat that comes around only three or four times in an average lifetime!
3. It’s 200 Years Since the Cantonist Decree
On September 7, 1927, corresponding to Elul 15, Tsar Nicholas I signed a statute in which Jewish boys were forcibly drafted into the army for six years of training followed by 25 years of active duty.
These boys were sent to military schools called cantons, far from home and family, and pressured relentlessly to convert. Yet many held fast to the faith of their childhood, determined to remain Jewish no matter the cost.
4. It’s 100 Years Since a Major Date in Jewish-Soviet History
On June 14, 1927, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn of Lubavitch was arrested in his Leningrad home by the Soviet secret police and thrown into the notorious Spalerno prison. His crime? Standing up for every Jew’s right to practice their religion freely.
Miraculously, on the 12th of Tammuz (July 12), he received the news that he was free to go home and continue his holy work. His release stood as a testament to light overcoming darkness, and to the eternal truth that no force can ever stop the Jewish people from living as Jews.
5. It’s a Year of Shechinah and Speech
In Hebrew, the number 385 spells out שפה, which also means “speech.” This number also happens to be the numeric value of שכינה – Shechinah, the Divine Presence.
Perhaps the message for this year is to turn our lives and homes into places where G-d’s presence can truly feel at home. And one powerful way to do that is by sanctifying our speech: speaking with honesty, using clean language, and using our words to share the light of Torah with others.
