There’s a song in the musical Wicked with the repeated line, “because I knew you, I’ve been changed for the good.” The song ends with a slight but significant variation: “Because I knew you, I’ve been changed for good.”

Is true change possible? Every rom-com movie ever made wants us to believe it is.

Now that I am in my 60s, I can look back and say with absolute certainty that I have changed. And with equal certainty, I can say that I am the exact same person as I ever was. Much has changed over the years, but at my core I am still me.

I think this is why some biblical commentators believe it was Joseph’s brothers Simeon and Levi who threw him into the pit in this week’s Torah portion. The text doesn’t say which brothers; it simply reads, “Joseph followed his brothers to Dothan, and they saw him from afar and before he came close to them they conspired to kill him.” (Genesis 37:17-18).

Why those two? Because they were the ones who avenged the rape of their sister Dinah by killing all the men in the city of Shechem.

It seems reasonable to imagine that two men who would commit wanton murder of countless people without remorse, would also be capable of plotting to kill their own brother because he annoyed them.

As we look toward the beginning of the secular new year and reflect on the earthshattering changes that Israel and the worldwide Jewish community have endured over the past 14 months, we know that events around us have the ability to change us. So too our individual experiences of illness and loss.

They change our priorities for sure. They have an effect on how we behave. But I do not believe they can change the essence of who we are.

Years ago, my then-husband accused me of becoming too involved in Judaism, that it had “taken over” too much of my life. I stared at him for a few moments before asking, “Do you not remember that I was a religion major when we met?”

I was, am, and will always be, a Jew. I will continue to spend the long nights of December filling my home with menorahs, anxious to bring more light into the world. I will continue to spend my days doing my small part to make the world a better, safer, place.

Despite depression (the demon I fight daily), the lingering physical and psychic effects of breast cancer nearly 25 years ago, and living in very dark times, I remain, yours truly, me.