By Betsy S. Silverfine, Annual Giving Officer, Hadassah
For me, Rosh Hashanah was always a family holiday, one where, as a kid, we would walk to our Conservative synagogue in Cedarhurst, NY – Temple Beth El. And after the services, we would either have cousins over or go to a cousin or good friend’s home. It always brings me joy and happiness to think that a new year is beginning and reflect on the past. For some, Rosh Hashanah is called the “birthday of the world.”
Also, Rosh Hashanah marks the start of the Jewish High Holy Days leading up to Yom Kippur. It marks the beginning of the 10 “Days of Awe,” in which Jews focus their attentions on repentance and reflection leading up to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, considered to be holiest day of the Jewish year. According to tradition, the names of the righteous are written in the Book of Life and names of the wicked are written in the Book of Death. You have the days in between before your fate is sealed in one of the books.
The Jewish New Year is a time to reflect on our actions over the past year and to repent for any sine we may have committed. However, it also is a time to share meals and prayer with family and friends. That includes special treats such as apples or challah dipped in honey (to symbolize the wish for a sweet new year); prayer services with Torah readings and repeated blasts from a ram’s horn, called a shofar; and the ritual lighting and blessing candles in the evenings.
On the first day of Rosh Hashanah, we have gone to a friend’s lake in their backyard or even the beach on the Atlantic Ocean while performing the Tashlich ceremony. We have thrown our pieces of bread into the water to cast off our sins. Since the bread goes out to sea, so do our sins. The practice, which began in the Middle Ages, was inspired by a verse from the prophet Micah:
God will take us back in love
God will cover up our iniquities
You (God) will hurl all our sins
Into the depths of the sea.
The shofar signifies the presence of God and is a powerful symbol of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son, Isaac, to show obedience to God by reminding us of the ram that was provided in Isaac’s place.
I have retained these traditions as an adult with my family. Having a teen daughter, Ella 15 and a teen son, Brayden 13 I knew that I needed to carry these holidays forward. I needed and wanted to show my family what being Jewish is and how we should carry on these holidays. I love having the rituals of going to synagogue (albeit reform now, Temple Beth El of Boca Raton, FL) and hearing the shofar blown. Ella now sings with the choir as well and my husband, Russ leads the prayers and blessings over the wine and the challah. My son, Brayden is about to have a bar mitzvah in May 2022. And traditions are ever so important currently where he is about to go from boy to manhood.
Special food also is eaten during Rosh Hashanah. That may include pomegranate fruit, as people wish for blessings in the new year as plentiful as the seeds of a pomegranate. The pomegranate’s 613 seeds also symbolize the 613 “mitzvot,” or commandments, in the Torah. Round challah bread baked with raisins inside is also popular during the holiday. Some people also will traditionally eat the head of a fish or a ram to symbolize the “head of the year.” Fish is also eaten because it is a symbol of fertility and abundance.
Rosh Hashanah is meant to be a day of rest, not labor. The Torah expressly forbids one to do any work on Rosh Hashanah, as well as other major Jewish holy days. So, at Hadassah, we do have both days of RH off. It is a time to reflect and to think. I am so glad I am affiliated with an organization that takes this true to the heart. The donors that I work with also feel the same way and treasure the time to spend with their loved ones. It is a time to remind people that we appreciate them and that we thank them for all that they do and that we want to wish them well. I have steered my volunteers in the NE and SE U.S. to either make phone calls or mail greetings of the new year to our annual givers. We must always have our touch points. Just to say thank you.
This year Rosh Hashanah will look a bit different for me as I will be accompanying my teen daughter, Ella to New York City for a bunk camp reunion. Since I am a New Yorker, I reached out to a good friend from college, and she invited us both for Erev Rosh Hashanah. It’s not just different because we won’t be with my son, Brayden and my husband, Russ but it is different because this year I was asked if I was vaccinated and if I had a recent Covid-18 test. The times we are in are so challenging, but we can pivot and accept the challenges that are presented before us all. I have learned to be fluid in my activities both with Hadassah and in life in general.
Hadassah inspires us to do good deeds – tikkun olam. It implies that each person has a hand in working towards the betterment of his or her own existence as well as the lives of future generations. Tikkun olam encourages people to take ownership of their world. We must and should be responsible for each other. Hadassah has a strong culture of this belief and I pass it on through my work ethics.
And always when we leave each other on RH, we say either Shanah Tovah (good year) or we add ‘metuka’ meaning sweet – so all in all – have a good and sweet year. If you’re not sure how to greet someone on Rosh Hashanah, you could just say “Shanah Tovah,” which means “good year” in Hebrew. The word “u’metuka” – meaning “and sweet” – is sometimes added to the end of that phrase as in “good and sweet year.” I want to wish everyone a happy and a healthy new year. Let us all lift each other up!