We were given vivid demonstrations both of the enduring and indomitable vitality and resilience of the eternal life and land and Torah of the Jewish people, as well as the preciousness and fragility of each moment of each and every life.

We were blessed with unprecedented discoveries that gave archeological and historical confirmation to stories from the Torah, bringing them to life. One was of an ancient road in Jerusalem that Jews used to reach the Second Temple; another was of coins from the time of the Jewish revolt against the Romans.

At the same time as we marveled and celebrated the integrity and truth of the Torah being proven before our very eyes, that renewal of our faith was juxtaposed with the tragic news of the death of Assaf Ramon.

In one day, joy and sorrow. In one day, a reminder to us all of the bond between Jews and Jerusalem, between G-d and His chosen people. A reminder to us all that while none of us knows how long our individual time in this world may be, what we do know for sure is that the land of Israel, the people of Israel and the Torah of Israel are everlasting.

Jewish history became the Jewish present when the actual road which all Jews traveled to gather at the holy Second Temple on the three major festivals of Passover, Succot and Shavuot was discovered. Most notably, the Temple was also the focus of the Jewish people on Yom Kippur when the Kohen Gadol, the High Priest, would go through myriad spiritual and physical preparations to enter the Holy of Holies, the only time of the year when he would do so. It was on Yom Kippur that he pleaded for G-d's atonement (at-one-ment) for our departures from the ways He enjoined us to follow. Today, as we await the arrival of the Third Temple with the coming of Moshiach, we pray the Yom Kippur prayers as a substitute for the priestly service.

The road, the central thoroughfare of Jerusalem when the Temple stood, was revealed as part of the Shiloach Pool Excavation, about 600 yards south of the Temple Mount, near where the Western Wall stands today. The road was discovered in excavations being conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Giving yet more tangible evidence of the sacred, unbreaking and unbreakable connection between the Jewish people and Jerusalem, between G-d and the Jewish people. A powerful reminder as we begin the High Holidays, when we seek forgiveness for the damage we have done in our interpersonal relationships and then in our relationship with G-d in the past year, when we have an opportunity for a fresh beginning in our relationships with others and with G-d, committing to be better in the coming year.

The discovery of the pathway to the holy Temple, exciting enough on its own, came just days after another amazing discovery, that of the largest ever collection of coins from the Bar Kochba revolt. The coins were discovered as part of a research project being carried out by Boaz Langford and Amos Frumkin of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, along with Boaz Zissu and Hanan Eshel of Bar-Ilan University.

The 120 gold, silver and bronze coins were found in a cave in the Judean Hills near the city of Betar, which most likely served as a hiding place for the Jewish fighters of the Bar Kochba revolt against the Romans. Ancient Betar was the site of the "last stand" of the rebels led by Bar-Kochba in their struggle against Roman rule in Judea from 132-35 CE.

Most of the coins are in excellent condition and most have imprints struck on top of the original Roman engravings. The imprints show Jewish images and words, such as the facade of the Temple and the slogan "for the freedom of Jerusalem."

Again, showing how beloved Jerusalem is to us, how long we have prayed for it, how much we have sacrificed for it, how hard we have fought for it.

Never before have coins of such quality and quantity been discovered in one place in the land of Israel. Never before.

And the fact that they have now been discovered, and discovered so close to Rosh Hashanah and discovered at the same time as the very road that Jews traveled to reach the holy Temple, sends us a very powerful message at a very powerful time of the year.

If we woke up today, it is G-d saying "I need you here, the world needs you here. You have a unique mission to fulfill." Reminding us that we are all part of something much bigger than us, reminding us to do our part in the time we have, for we are all part of a much bigger story, a much greater mission.

Reminding us of the all powerful, all loving, merciful G-d who gives us challenges to help us bring out, manifest, those latent strengths within us, individually and collectively, and bring those strengths into the here and now real energy of the universe. That is our true tikkun olam: choosing life, choosing to rise to the challenges, work them through, strive to overcome them and show G-d and ourselves faithfulness to Him, no matter what.

Yes, easier said than done, but that's what we're here for. We just work here and we do it happily, secure in the deep inner joy and happiness of knowing that G-d is our Creator, Sustainer, our King, our loving and merciful Father.

On Rosh Hashanah, we say the Unetanah Tokef prayer in which we proclaim the awesome sanctity of the day, a day when each of us stands before a loving G-d, a time when none of knows who, in the coming year, shall live and who shall die, who by fire, who by flood, who by sword, who by beast.

It is a time when we are reminded of the preciousness and fragility of every minute of every one of us and our lives.

We don't know what will happen to us from year from year, from day to day. Which is why we must live each day remembering we live our lives as part of the greater life of the Jewish people, doing our part of G-d's mission for the Jewish people.

That was brought home to us by the tragic death of Assaf Ramon.

While the discoveries of the road and the coins go back thousands of years, Assaf Ramon had but 20 years on this earth. He died when his F-16 jet crashed in the Hebron Hills as he was taking part in advanced training exercises.

Assaf was the son of another Israeli hero, Ilan Ramon, Israel's first astronaut, a pilot who participated in the 1981 strike on an Iraqi nuclear reactor. Ilan Ramon, the son of a Holocaust survivor, died when the space shuttle Columbia exploded.

Assaf became a pilot because of his father and indeed had just graduated the prestigious pilot training course with honors. He had hoped, like his father, to become an astronaut.

But that is not to be. Instead, he was buried this week, next to his father.

"The state of Israel is lowering its flag, as a whole nation mourns the death of our fallen son," said President Shimon Peres at the funeral. "All of our hearts are broken today because the personal child of the Ramon family was a child to all of us."

Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, the army chief of staff, said he "received the bitter announcement of Capt. Assaf Ramon's passing with teary eyes, as did the commanders and soldiers of the IDF and the whole of Israel."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who postponed a key meeting with U.S. envoy George Mitchell, to share the sorrow and mourn along with the entire Jewish people, said "there are few moments in which personal pain rips so powerfully through the nation's heart. The entire nation is wrapped in unfathomable grief over the death of Assaf Ramon, who fell from the skies like his father."

The most powerful words came posthumously from Assaf Ramon, and from his mother at his funeral.

Shortly after his father's death, Assaf was interviewed by Israeli TV and spoke of his desire to become a pilot and then an astronaut. "I would like to share with my father what he went through and how he felt. I believe it will make me feel closer to him."

Standing at the graveside of both her husband and her son, Rona Ramon said of her oldest child, "This was supposed to be my plot. I was supposed to be buried here old and with a million grandchildren. I know your father is taking care of you now."

His funeral reminds us all that it is at this time of year that it is customary to go to the cemetery, to visit the graves of our relatives who have passed on to the glory of the World of Truth. And to ask G-d for forgiveness, request that G-d allow those who loved us to be good petitioners on our behalf, to seek forgiveness for our past errors as well as blessing for a good and sweet new year.

Reminding us, too, that it is at this time of the year that before we can ask for forgiveness from G-d, we must first ask forgiveness from and heal wounds caused one another. Indeed, it is only once we have reached out to, made peace with, endeavored to reconnect with our fellow Jews, it is only then that we can come before G-d to do the same with Him.

If we do, when we do make peace with our fellow Jews, then we can come and stand before G-d. The heartbreaking tragedy of Assaf Ramon, of blessed memory, reminds us of the vital importance of getting right with ourselves, other people and G-d.

Out of 12 million Jews in the world, Assaf Ramon was one of but a handful with the ability to fly the world's most sophisticated aircraft to protect the Jewish people and the Jewish homeland. Now he continues to do service to his country and to the Jewish people by vividly reminding us of how precious life is, how fleeting life can be, how vital it is to make the most of each day, to live each day as a proud and committed Jew.

Assaf Ramon, in his way, and the archaeological discoveries, in their way, bring us to this new year with the inspiration to dig deeper, to go to classes, to read books, to better discover the richness of what it means to live as a Jew. And reminds us of the deep, wide, abiding, enduring, sustaining love of the one and only G-d.

A love that goes on and on.