Rabbi & Rebbetzin Corner

Shalom Mishpocha, 
 
Happy New Year! We have entered the Gregorian Calendar year of 2026. The 1st of Nisan (the Biblical New Year) begins at sunset, Wednesday March 18th, 2026, beginning the year 5786. January is the first month of the year, named after Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and transitions, who had two faces looking at the past and the future. The months of January and February were not originally in the ancient Roman calendar as the winter months were considered dormant, both in terms of agriculture and in terms of making war. This was a time of peace. Until 450 BCE, the Roman calendar was 10 months, beginning in March (Martius), due to the March Equinox. Remember, March was named for “Mars,” the god of War who was also an agricultural guardian.  
 
Let’s look at the prophetic meaning of the year 5786/2026. Hebrew letters also serve as numbers, so every year’s number can be read as a word or phrase: 
 
5000: Heh, “behold” or “the” when added before word. The number 5 represents grace, God’s unmerited favor through His empowering presence.  It signifies victory and divine enablement!  
 
700: Shin, often tied to fire, divine energy, or transformation. The number 7 (Sheva in Hebrew) is the DNA, the building blocks of creation. Seven is the central key to God’s creation and design.  The world was created in seven days.  There are seven feasts of the Lord in the annual feast day cycle.  There are Sheva festival days when work is forbidden.  Sheva days of Matzah!  Sheva days of Sukkot.  Sheva (seven) is the number of creation and is the number of perfection. It speaks of completion and perfection through warfare.   
 
80: Peh, means “mouth” in Hebrew. It’s linked to speech, proclamation, declaration, and prophecy. The Number 8 symbolizes new beginnings. It points to the transition from the old into the new, the breaking forth of a new day, and the power of renewal and transformation through Yeshua. 
 
6: Vav, means “hook” it relates to connection, unity, joining heaven and earth. The Number 6 is associated with humankind, as humanity was created on the sixth day. It functions as a nail that fixes two things together or as a hook that draws something into place.  Symbolically, it is the divine link between Heaven and Earth. 
 
So, 5786 can be read as: “The year of connecting (Vav) through the mouth (Peh), with divine fire/energy (Shin).” It’s a year of Divine Connections, Divine Shifts and Divine Alignments from Heaven to our Earth. 
 
The number 26 from the year 2026 in the gematria is the value of God's Name YHWH, symbolizes authority and love, marking a year with divine connections and the fulfillment of long-awaited promises. 2026 is described as a year of reaping, where believers are expected to witness the fulfillment of prophecies and the manifestation of God's Word in power. This new year will be one of the most significant transitional shifts that we will see and experience. This New Year will be one of divine connections, radical divine shifts, coupled with divine alignments with the authority of Kingdom of Adonai! Nations will feel this radical shift profoundly. Political, economic, and spiritual strongholds will not remain the same. Adonai is connecting, aligning, and joining us into His Heavenly purposes here on the earth. We must live our lives in this new year with great biblical intentionality! 
 
Friday January 9th, 2026, is National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day or L.E.A.D. It is a day to express our gratitude to our police officers for all their hard work and for protecting the community. Those who serve as police officers put their lives on the line every day! They are not appreciated enough. Pay for their meal if you see them at a restaurant or purchase food gift cards to give to our men and woman in blue! They will appreciate it! Thank you to all of our law enforcement for protecting us every day! 
 
Monday, January 19th, 2026, is Martin Luther King Jr. Day (observed). This holiday is held on the third Monday in January and honors the principles of this civil rights leader and Nobel Prize Winner dedicated to change through nonviolence. Dr. King also organized and led marches for the right to vote, desegregation, and labor rights in addition to basic civil rights. The passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 are attributed, in part, to the works of Dr. King. 
 
International Holocaust Remembrance Day is an important day to remember the atrocities of the genocide carried out against Jewish people and other marginalized groups during WWII by Nazi Germany. This year, Holocaust Remembrance Day is on Tuesday, January 27th, 2026. As we continue to suffer rising, rabid antisemitism, anti-Israel sentiment, we must remember what happened 85 years ago in Germany. We must remember what happened in Israel on October 7th, 2023. Never again is now! Am Israel Chai! 
 
 
Blessings and Shalom! 
 
 
Rabbi and Rebbetzin Carlson