A Change Is Gonna Come

A Change Is Gonna Come – But Not Without Us

Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come” is a cry of faith in the midst of pain. It’s not naïve, and it’s not simple. Cooke doesn’t sing about change because life is easy. He sings about change because life is hard—because the injustice is real, the pain is real, and the promise of something better is necessary. His voice doesn’t rise from comfort. It rises from conviction.

This is not just a protest song. It’s a covenantal song. And it speaks to us—Jews standing at the threshold of Rosh Hashanah, and Jews reading Parashat Nitzavim, where Moses tells us: You are standing here today, all of you.

Nitzavim begins with a collective stand. Not a feeling. Not a belief. A stand. Action first. Commitment first. And then: understanding, reflection, hearing. Na’aseh v’nishma.

We don’t wait to act until we feel inspired. We don’t wait to commit until we understand every detail. We act. We show up. We stand. And that’s when the real listening can begin.

There’s a reason Parashat Nitzavim is read before Rosh Hashanah. It’s not just about entering the new year with hope. It’s about responsibility. The Torah tells us: See, I have placed before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life. That choice is not passive. That choice is not philosophical. That choice is action.

Sam Cooke sang, It’s been a long, a long time coming, but I know a change gonna come. But here’s the truth: change doesn’t just come. It doesn’t arrive on its own. It’s not automatic. A better world doesn’t materialize just because we long for it. Change comes when we make it come. When we do first. When we live as if our choices matter. When we carry the burden of covenant—together.

That’s the meaning of Na’aseh V’nishma. We act because we are commanded to act. We listen because there is more to hear. And we do both—because we are part of a people that doesn’t wait for the world to change. We choose life. We become the change.

Rosh Hashanah is not just a new year. It is a call. It is the cry of the shofar that says: rise, return, act. That’s the real sound we need to hear. That’s the change we must become.