Happy New Year

If you’ve been noticing people wishing each other a happy new year this week, it’s because today is Rosh Hashanah.  This is the Jewish New Year, the day when Jews around the world celebrate the beginning of the biblical year.  It is, along with the other “high holy day,” Yom Kippur, the holiest of days for the whole year.  Today we celebrate that which we have been thankful for this past year, look forward to that which we can be thankful for this coming year, and prepare for another year of highs, lows and inbetweens.  Yom Kippur, which follows 10 days later and is marked with a day of fasting, is the Day of Atonement, when you recall the misdeeds and missteps you may have made since last year’s high holy days, and ask God and yourself for forgiveness.  The 10-day cycle is meant to refresh and rejuvenate your spiritual soul, giving room for what will come next.

As is the case with most Jewish holidays, there are foods and traditions that are symbolic of this holy day.  As it is the head of the new year—Rosh means “head”; Hashanah means “of year”—we use our head for thought and reflection as we prepare for the coming year.  We also signify our day in meals—a practice we take up on most days of the year, celebrating with food—with round foods to symbolize the circle of life, the cycle of the new year, the completeness of completing another year.  Therefore, we eat round challahs, instead of the traditional loaf style (of delicious egg bread, challah) with raisins for a bit of sweetness.  We also eat apples and honey, the apple being round and the honey being a sweet wish for the year.

So even if you don’t celebrate Jewish holidays, or if, maybe, the idea of the holiday is curious to you then think about something you were thankful for this year and something you would like to be thankful for next year.  Have yourself an apple, put some honey in your tea, and remember where you were last year.  Reflect, think, feel and touch the new year with honesty and sincerity.  As we say to each other, in salutation, “L’Shana Tova!” (luh-sha-nah toe-vah).

Photo of apples and honey courtesy this guy.

Posted by on 09/30 at 09:15 AM