Happy 5787!!

Although there are 4 New years that were acknowledged in ancient times in the Torah (the 1st of Nisan-the new year of the Kings; the 1st of Elul – the new year of tithing for cattle; the 1st of Tishrei -the new year of the years and the ‘birth of the world’; and lastly, the new year of the trees- Tu B’Shevat, 15th of Shevat), it is Rosh Hashana, the 1st day of the 7th month that has become our NEW YEAR! The Rosh Hashana celebration, the preparation. the rituals, the prayers have all become a major part of Jewish life. In Numbers 29:1, we are told, “In the seventh month on the first day of the month, you shall observe a scared occasion: you shall not work at your occupations. You shall observe it as day when the horn is sounded.” And we are given a number of instructions as to how we are to observe this day. They include presenting a burnt offering, a meal offering, sin offering, and then, on the 10th day of the same 7th month, we are to practice self denial, do no manner of work; it will be a Sabbath of complete rest, a day and atonement.

That’s it. Nothing about apples and honey or a round challah, or wearing white, or not wearing running shoes in the Book of Numbers. We don’t read about Selichot, ‘forgiveness’, that we recite late evening on the Saturday before Rosh Hashana. No reference to walking to a stream to cast off our sins (Tashlich) That comes later from the book of Micah. And all the other ways we celebrate Rosh Hashanah, live the 10 days of Awe -Yamim Noraim- and complete the celebration on Yom Kippur, all the rituals and customs for this holiday have developed over the centuries, directed by our sages to make this time of the year so integral and meaningful in our Jewish life. And that’s what it is all about, living a Jewish life, celebrating with community, sharing community time together, connecting with one another, and hopefully connecting with God.

At our synagogues, attendance blossoms at this time. Our numbers increase exponentially. Why?? Because, at this time, we want to and need to identify ourselves; we want to be together as proud Jews, saying together that the world was born not by accident, but by plan and the planner was God, and the blueprint is our Torah. In this extremely difficult time, when antisemitism is perhaps more rampant than it has been since the Holocaust, we came together to pray. Yes, we needed a lot of security. And the attack in Belleville was frightening. And thank God the service in Belleville was delayed and a brave young officer, Jeff Smith, was there protecting the congregation (May he heal completely). Still, we celebrate. Still, we will have our family dinners before we attend services. Still, we will bake or buy the round challah, the round shape perhaps to remind us of the continuing cycle of life. We will dip our apples into honey, tasting the sweetness of life and praying for a fruitful New Year. And in Belleville, they will add more security, get shatterproof glass, rebuild, but they will not stop. They will celebrate again.

Now in the year 5787, symbolically going back to the ‘0’mark, the birth of the world, we will renew our faith, having done ‘cheshbon hanefesh’, a tabulation of our souls, a self assessment. We are the puff of smoke that Mark Twain should have disappeared into the atmosphere. But here we are! We are the ever- dying people, as said in a 1948 essay by historian and educator Simon Rawidowicz. But here we are. We are about ¼ of 1 % of the world population; yet look at the amazing contributions we have made to science, technology, the arts. It has not been an easy 5787 years, but we are here. And let us look forward to a better year, a year of peace, respect, understanding, health and happiness. I know we will see each other hopefully many times over the coming year, but I look forward to seeing you all on Oct 1, 2027, which, at sundown, will be 1st Tishrei 5788. In the meantime, Shanah Tovah and Gemar Chatimah Tovah.

Filed under: Educator's Message

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