As Jews around the world celebrate Rosh Hashana, our solemn but festive New Year, we reflect on a year that was filled with trouble and turmoil.

The outgoing year had hardly begun when Hamas launched its infamous massacre, whose horrors I don’t need to recount.

And we were still taking stock of our dead and missing friends and family when, to our astonishment, massive pro-Hamas demonstrations infested New York and cities across the West.

Our enemies in the Middle East have launched thousands of missiles at Israeli civilians since then, while enemies here have cranked their anti-Israel extremism up to 11.

Our leaders and media equivocate between Israel and her enemies, between campus extremists and the Jews they harass, between good and evil.

But as an American Jew, I can also be thankful for a lot.

I’m grateful to live in America, where I am free to pray as my tradition requires.

I am even glad to be reminded, however rudely, that I live where free speech thrives.

Most of all, I will reflect on how lucky I am to live amongst Americans. 

When Iran launched its massive attack on Israel on Tuesday night, I was in the car.

When I parked and checked my phone, the first alert I saw was from a Catholic former coworker.

She had texted immediately upon seeing the news.

She was praying for me, Israel and Jews around the world. 

In the emotional days after Oct. 7, I received dozens of such messages.

“The perseverance and strength of the Jewish people will yet again see you through times of tribulation,” wrote one Christian colleague.

“We have your back along the way. The people of Israel live.”

Revisiting these notes a year later, many of them still bring me to tears.

Few, if any, of those who reached out are devoted Christian Zionists.

They are simply decent Americans.

They have good intuitions for right and wrong. 

When I think back on a year that revealed how some of my fellow citizens would celebrate if my family were murdered or taken hostage, simply for living in the wrong place, I am comforted by the thought of Paulie from Queens.

You remember him — he’s the construction worker in Forest Hills who confronted one of those demons walking among us who was ripping down posters of Israelis taken hostage. 

I have not gotten to meet Paulie and treat him to the beer he deserves.

But I am thinking about him this Rosh Hashana, even though he’s not Jewish.

Specifically, I recall his explanation for what he did: “I’m just a regular guy who didn’t like what I saw. It shouldn’t be celebrated, what I did — it should be normal.” 

He’s exactly right, and more profound than he appears.

Our most sophisticated college students and professors have philosophized their way into defending the indefensible.

Meanwhile, normal Americans live by a much better set of principles.

Don’t harm innocents.

Don’t celebrate murder and rape.

Don’t start wars and then whine when you lose them.  

Anyone who understands Jewish history knows that we are unusually blessed.

The fact that people hate us is nothing new.

The fact that those people today are outnumbered by many more who would protect us, treat us as equals and have our backs during times of tribulation — that is new.

The fact that it is normal, not unusual, for non-Jews to rally to our defense as they have makes us extraordinarily lucky. 

The beginning of any endeavor should begin with gratitude.

So as we endeavor to make Jewish year 5785 an improvement over ’84, I, for one, will start with thanks for the blessing of being an American, and sharing this great nation with decent, normal Americans.

Tal Fortgang is an adjunct fellow at the Manhattan Institute.