Ceremony and Celebration Family Edition, The Hagim, Rosh HaShana, Educational Companion to the Questions
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ROSH HASHANA IN A NUTSHELL
Anyone who wishes to live a life with meaning will find themselves asking these or similar questions. A thinking and reflective person will address them more often than once a year. Rosh HaShana ensures that even someone for whom introspection does not come naturally will still address these questions, and consider the answers to them, every year on the day that encourages the process of Ḥeshbon hanefesh (self-accounting/introspection), when we stand in the presence of God and consider our lives.
The fleeting nature of life can lead to depression and a sense of nihilism and emptiness, or conversely it can inspire a search for meaning, and an aspiration to make every minute and every day count. Rosh HaShana and Judaism in general encourage the second approach.
From a young child to an elderly person, these questions are the basic questions of a self-aware being who aspires to the betterment of their life. This is a natural wish even in young children. Having an adult to guide them in the asking and answering of these questions will be a good catalyst for the process.
DEEP DIVING INTO THE TEFILLA OF THE DAY
From the list of ten themes found above in “What Rosh HaShana Says to Us,” the following are clearly expressed in this tefilla:
Life is short; life is a gift from God.
We are free to act.
Life is not easy.
We are dust of the earth but within us is the breath of God.
Further Rosh HaShana themes also found here are:
The awesome nature of the day
God as King; God as a Judge and Rosh HaShana as a Day of Judgement
The power of the sound of the shofar
Our future is in the balance and is decided on this day.
We can still affect the decision through acts of teshuva, tefilla, and tzedaka.
God is a forgiving God.
These three mitzvot represent the best actions we can take to repair the three paradigm relationships a person can have: with ourselves (teshuva – repentance); with God (tefilla – prayer); and with other humans (tzedaka – charity). To make a change we must focus on improving these areas in our life.
While there are aspects of despair found in this prayer (such as the vulnerability and fleeting nature of human life), at its core there is a profound statement of hope and positivity. It declares that our fate is ultimately within our control, that we have the secret to averting the evil decree, and that God is a forgiving God.
IT ONCE HAPPENED ON ROSH HASHANA…
Rav Kook was famous for his love of all Jews. Rather than showing disapproval for their decision to work on Rosh HaShana, which may have alienated them further from Judaism, he offered them the chance to hear the shofar at their workplace. He showed that he cared, and this approach ultimately brought them closer to Judaism.
The sound of the shofar is a powerful sound that reflects the emotions of the soul. Perhaps the workers connected to its spiritual dimension, and it touched their souls. Perhaps it was a familiar sound from their youth and it spoke to them once more and woke them from the haze of the pressures of adult life. Or perhaps it represented the love of Rav Kook for his fellow Jew and it was this that moved them.
Some of the lessons we can learn are: the power of the sound of the shofar, if we are only open to hearing it; the power of acts of love and kindness, more important even than teshuva and repairing our relationship with God; and that fixing our human relationships comes first.
ḤIDON ON THE ḤAG (A QUICK QUIZ)
- Head of the Year (not New Year!).
- First and second of Tishrei.
- Five: Rosh HaShana; Yom Terua (Day of Blasting); Yom HaDin (Day of Judgement); Yom HaZikaron (Day of Remembrance); HaYom Harat Olam (the Day of the Creation of the World).
- Tekia; shevarim; terua.
- One hundred.
- Apples and honey; dates; pomegranates; carrots; leeks; beets; squash/gourds; fish; and the head of a fish or sheep. Your family may have additional traditions.
- Because the many seeds are meant to represent the 613 mitzvot in the Torah.
- “Flowing water,” preferably a stream with fish.
- Malkhuyot (kingship); Zikhronot (remembrances); and Shofarot (shofar blasts).
- Because there is a difference of opinion as to whether the second day of Rosh HaShana is a new festival or a continuation of the first day, we eat a fruit that we have not eaten for thirty days so that we can make a Sheheḥeyanu blessing to cover both the fruit and, if needed, the new festival of the second day.