Message from the CEO

Hello everyone,

I write to you today with a deep sense of hope, joy, and gratitude, and a belief that we may be standing at the threshold of a new chapter for humanity. News has just broken that Israel and Hamas have signed a ceasefire and peace agreement, beginning the process of hostage release and a halt to active hostilities.  Over the past two years, much has tested our shared faith in peace and light. The conflict that erupted in October 2023 and, the worst that has affected the Jewish people since the Holocaust, brought suffering, fear, loss, and uncertainty. Lives were disrupted and families were torn apart. The wounds have been profound, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Attempts at truces and temporary pauses have flickered, only to be broken. But, through it all, so many held, to humanity, to compassion, to the belief that peace must one day prevail.

Today’s agreement offers more than a cessation of bullets and bombs; it carries the promise of restoration. Lives held in captivity are poised for return and families to be reunited and start to heal. Borders of conflict may begin to ease. Bridges, those fragile, hopeful threads between warring people, can begin to be rebuilt. These have been trying times, especially for those employees whose families are far away and had to endure the impact of this long-standing conflict. We can all breathe a bit easier and allow ourselves to hope again.

I want you, every person who is part of Louis Brier, to feel how deeply this matters, even here, far from the battlefield. Our work in care, compassion, healing, dignity, is bound to the very best of what peace enables. When the world is less fractured, hope is freer to flourish, and the vulnerable are safer in its light.

So, let this moment fill us. Let it stir our optimism, renew our purpose, and deepen our commitment to service. Let it remind us that we do not live in a world without darkness, but that light can break through. Much as the holiday of Hanukkah (which is ahead of us), the holiday of miracles, hope, and light.

We don’t know yet how long this peace will last, or what hurdles must still be overcome, but we can choose to believe it is possible. We can choose to act as though a new era is beginning. And in the work we do, we can be small ambassadors of that hope.

Thank you, each one of you, for your dedication, your humanity, your compassion. In this moment of promise, let us stand tall together, believing in a future where healing is more powerful than harm, where reconciliation is possible, and where life itself is sacred.

Thank you,

Dr. David Keselman, MN, DHA, CHE, RN
Chief Executive Officer