L’Shana Tova!
L’shanah tovah tikatev v’taihatem to my gentleman readers, and L’shanah tovah tikatevi v’taihatemi to my lady readers. May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year. Today is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.
Share apples and honey with your family and eat a pomegranate today.
The honey symbolizes a sweet year. And Heaven knows we could all use a little sweetness to lighten the load.
The apple refers to the story of the binding of Isaac, the Akeida, which took place on Rosh Hashanah. The Hebrew word for apple, tapuach, is numerically equivalent to Seh Akeida. By eating the apple, we symbolically express our hope that some of the merit generated through Abraham’s and Isaac’s testing will trickle down to our generation.
An individual pomegranate has approximately 613 seeds. There are 613 commandments in the Torah. By eating the pomegranate, we figuratively show our desire to fulfill all 613 commandments.
I am a Christian who has a deep connexion to Judaism: I attended synagogue (in addition to church) while studying Hebrew and Judaism in college and was assistant to the senior rabbi of a large Modern Orthodox synagogue for two years. I now work for three Jewish men, each of whom represents a different branch of Judaism. All three take off on Rosh Hashanah, and all of our offices are closed on Yom Kippur.
Yom Kippur is a week from Monday (it starts at sundown on Sunday). It is the holiest and most solemn day of the Jewish year. Most observant Jews will fast from both food and drink from sundown Wednesday until twilight Thursday—a full 25 hours.
What is Yom Kippur all about? My rabbi explained to me that in Christian terms it’s about showing contrition for sins of omission and sins of commission.
Sins of omission spring from neglecting to do what God has required of us—failing in mitzvot (righteous works) and chesed (kindness), if you will. Sins of commission are intentional sins—breaking a specific prohibition, like committing adultery or eating treif.
During the Yamim Noraim (High Holy Days), observant Jews are supposed to seek out those whom they have wronged and make amends. Yom Kippur is about admitting and making amends to God for our wrongs against Him. Yom Kippur is about guilt only insofar as its observance helps us to recognise our imperfections and spurs us to more charitable behaviour. The point is to bring us to repentance and to inspire us to righteousness.
Whether you are Christian or Jewish, or of no particular faith, you can benefit from the self-assessment, honesty, contrition, and reconciliation encouraged by the High Holy Days.
May you find repentance, righteousness, and sweetness in your life, and may you draw closer to the God who made you. May you enjoy a blessed year.