Hope Smiles (Neilah Conclusion)

Neilah is the service at the end of Yom Kippur. It’s a “last chance” to get a prayer of forgiveness in front of God. Mostly, however, it’s a last chance to admit we need to do better in the year ahead. This setting is filled with optimistic promise, that we WILL do better in the year to come. Hence, “Hope Smiles.” It’s based on the following writing by Alfred Lord Tennyson: “Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering, “It will be happier.” Dedicated to the life and spirit of Jonah Maccabee Dreskin z”l.