Dear
Readers,
These columns began on my area of America Online, called: Judaism
Today: Where Do I Fit? People anonymously
sent me E-Mail, and I began to choose one for a public response
in my Jewish E-Mail of the Week column. The column has become
quite popular and is now syndicated internationally in many
Jewish papers and websites. I hope you find they help you
as you think about the Ethics, Spirituality and Peoplehood
components of the Jewish way of Life. I welcome your
comments... see the end of the column.
Gil
PS
Teachers and others, feel free to copy my columns and forward
them or use them as you see fit. Please see the friendly
copyright notice at the end. |
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Happy
New Year...Break Out the Bubbly?
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Dear
Readers:
This
year on Thanksgiving and Christmas I
tried an experiment. Rather than
respond to anybody in particular, I
wrote a response of the week about
each holiday. The reaction has been
tremendous and enthusiastic...the
email just keeps coming--which is
great! So with the holiday season
coming to an end...I decided to now
write a response about New Years.
Please keep those cards,
letters--really emails and postings
coming!!!! This one is called:
Happy
New Year....Break Out the Bubbly?
Can
you imagine getting drunk to celebrate
the Jewish New Year--Rosh Hashana? It
is almost funny to imagine the scene.
Services would sure be a lot more
interesting! And the sermon would not
seem too long for a change! Picture
the president of the shul (the
synagogue,) standing on the pulpit
with a lampshade over his head. All
very entertaining...on the other hand,
the thought of getting drunk on
Manischewitz kosher kiddush wine is
one I'd rather not think about.
This
scenario is crazy. But stop for a
moment and think about the New Year's
Eve custom--obviously not observed by
everyone-- to get drunk on January 1st
to celebrate. This custom has reached
a point where this time of year we
hear plenty about "responsible
drinking" and designated drivers.
AOL's "News" area even went
so far as to offer "Hangover
Cures" this December 31st!
Don't
get me wrong, I can certainly enjoy a
good New Year's party and I don't mind
a drink or 2... :)
Still
for many years, whenever I have
thought about how we celebrate New
Years, I have found myself comparing
it to the Jewish New Year--Rosh
Hashana--which combined 10 days later
with Yom Kippur make up the holiest
days of the Jewish year....the Jewish
High Holidays--or as my friend Rabbi
Mark Diamond of AOL's Jewish
Com.munity Ask a Rabbi likes to say,
the Jewish "High Holy Days."
There
are a couple things in particular that
stand out in my mind that make me
prefer the Jewish New Year that I
wanted to share with you--at the risk
of sounding preachy--that is not my
intent! As always I invite your
comments.
Here
is item one. Both New Year's Day and
Rosh Hashana are celebrations of a new
year...but how different.
Traditionally on Rosh Hashana we eat
apples and honey as a part of wishing
a sweet year to each other. On New
Years the tradition is alcohol--the
purpose of which I presume, is to help
us "loosen up" and be
cheerful.
Here
is item two. On New Years, part of
being cheerful is to forget about our
problems and our normal lives--and
party at least for one night.
During
the Jewish High Holidays (Rosh Hashana,
Yom Kippur and also the 10 days in
between,) we are supposed to remember
and specifically think of our day to
day "normal" lives. We are
asked to conscientiously do an
"inventory of our souls" (chesbon
ha-nefesh,) and our behaviours during
the prior year. And we are instructed
to seek forgiveness from those we have
wronged in the prior year. In
addition, the Yizkor service of
remembering loved ones is a major part
of the High Holidays.
Item
3: In both cases we resolve to do
better in the coming year. But again,
what a difference. It is almost
assumed--it is certainly widely joked
about--that the classic New Year's
resolution (i.e. lose weight or quit
smoking) will be ignored within days
of January 1st.
Conversely,
Jews are told to take our resolutions
so seriously that we are supposed to
think about them during many hours of
services, during the 10 days between
the 2 High Holidays--all culminating
in 24 hours of fasting! To me this is
an admirable way to seriously resolve
to make ourselves better people.
And
though many people complain or joke
about High Holiday services--the fact
remains that huge numbers of Jews do
participate in these services. And in
the words of one person who I
interviewed for my book (who also told
me he does not show up the rest of the
year in the synagogue:) "I am in
a different frame of mind when I go to
High Holiday services. I am
psychologically prepared to be
introspective."
I
am sure not everyone feels as this
person does. But I will say that for
myself, his words fit. That is the way
I approach the coming Jewish New Year:
trying to remember the prior year and
where I fell short of behaving as I
know I can or should--and vowing to do
better in the coming year.
So
I'll end by asking you to imagine a
different scenario as crazy as the
first one I proposed: What if we kept
January 1st as a wonderful cheerful
national party day--there could be
family get-togethers, champagne,
Manischewitz, whatever. BUT AFTER
THAT: for the next 10 days everybody
in our country would reflect on making
ourselves better people. This would
all culminate in a national day of
fasting, when we would all make
serious resolutions about doing what
we have been thinking about during the
prior 10 days.
Far
fetched idea? I have heard of this
strange minority religion whose
members have actually been observing
their New Year like this for many
centuries. Guess who? I think if
everyone observed New Years like this,
the world might be a tad better place.
HAPPY
NEW YEAR!
A FRIENDLY COPYRIGHT NOTICE
© Copyright Gil Mann
These columns can be found at www.beingjewish.org. Not
only do I give you permissions to copy these Jewish Email
columns...I HOPE YOU WILL and that you share them with others!
All I ask is that you never charge anyone for them and that you
also include this little copyright notice. Thank You!
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