Welcoming in the New Year—Part One

Symbols of Rosh Hashanah
from upper left clockwise: shofar, apple
and honey, torah (scroll) 

Most Americans, even those who still have print calendars where the holiday is clearly marked, are unaware today is Rosh Hashanah. The words literally translate from Hebrew to the English, “Head of the year.” In the synagogue, the Jewish house of worship, the Hebrew words, “Yom Hazikaron,” are heard. These say, “Day, the First,” from left to right, but Hebrew is actually read from right to left, so you get, “The First Day.” Or, as David Letterman’s man in Time Square put it last night, Happy Newish Jew Year.

For anyone who has a sense of history, or has checked out the best seller The Bible in original print or modern audio version, the Jewish people and their calendar go back to the time of Abraham. No, not Lincoln, the one who begat Isaac, who begat Jacob—that one. Actually, he was a few thousand years before Jesus, so instead of the calendar reading 2013, it reads 5774. Also, unlike the Gregorian calendar, named for the Roman guy who devised our current model, the Hebrew calendar is lunar. In other words, the layout of the months is based upon the moon rather than the sun. If that isn’t confusing enough, because the Jewish New Year comes so early, Hanukkah, the holiday with the candles and spinning top that normally coincides with Christmas, begins on Thanksgiving.

Sweetness of the New Year: apples and honey

As one might imagine, like in most cultures and religions, the New Year is a time of celebration.   One popular custom to symbolize the sweetness associated with its arrival is to dip a slice of apple in honey. It’s not bad. Really, go ahead and try it. You can let me know what you think in the comment section.

However, as with so many religious celebrations, there is another, more sobering, aspect to this holiday. The first day of the New Year is also the first day of the Days of Awe. There are ten days of awe, during which time it is incumbent upon those of good faith to repent for their misconduct and seek forgiveness from those they have harmed, as well as from the almighty. Next week, in part two, I will explore this in further detail.

Blowing a long twisted shofar (ram's horn)
Symbol of the ram that Abraham sacrificed
instead of his son, Isaac.

Among the many rituals performed during this holiday, one I customarily observe is Tashlich. There are nearly as many interpretations of the term as there are of what exactly its purpose is. Unlike most prayers, which are said in the synagogue, the songs and recitations for this ritual take place at the water’s edge. So, my mother and I braved the 102 degree heat and joined around 50 other souls under the trees near a small lake in a community park. After our collective voices made their plea, each of us took some bread crumbs to throw into the water. As I made my solitary declaration, it did not matter to me whether my misdeeds were being symbolically cast into the sea or my soul purified by the cleansing liquid in front of me. My concern centered on the consumption habits of the ducks and would they survive another New Year.