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5773 - 2012
Sunday September 16 at Sundown
To Tuesday September 18 after Sundown
Shalom to all my Christian Zionist friends:
Another
year has passed, and the State of Israel is once again threatened for
no other reason but fulfilling the will of G-D to live in Peace in
the Land that G-D promised to HIS people!
This Rosh Hashanah I will thank G-D for guiding
my beautiful Christian Zionist friends and put it in their hearts to
stand and fight and pray for Israel and the Jewish People! I am so
inspired, moved and blessed to have known each and every one of you.
You are an inspiration to me, my family and my friends who have met many
of you. May the New Year be a Year of Good Health! A Year of
rejuvenation, A Year of realization of all your hopes and dreams! AMEN.
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 ...in
the seventh month, on the first of the month, there shall be a Sabbath
for you, a remembrance with shofar blasts, a holy convocation. Leviticus 16:24
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The
name of the month of ELUL (spelled Alef-Lamed-Vav-Lamed) is said to be
an acronym of "Ani l'dodi v'dodi li," "I am my Beloved's and my Beloved
is mine," a quote from Song of Songs 6:3, where the Beloved is G-d and
the "I" is the Jewish people. In Aramaic (the vernacular of the Jewish
people at the time that the month names were adopted), the word "Elul"
means "search," which is appropriate, because this is a time of year
when we search our hearts.
Rosh Hashanah is observed on the 1st and 2nd days of Tishrei. In
Hebrew, Rosh Hashanah means, literally, "Head of the Year," and as its
name indicates, it is the beginning of the Jewish year. The anniversary
of the creation of Adam and Eve, it is the birthday of mankind, highlighting the special relationship between G-d and humanity. The
primary theme of the day is our acceptance of G-d as our King.
The Sages teach that the renewal of G-d's desire for the world, and thus
the continued existence of the universe, is dependent upon this. We
accept G-d as our King, and G-d is aroused, once again, with the desire
to continue creating the world for one more year.
The
name "Rosh Hashanah" is not used in the Bible to discuss this holiday.
The Bible refers to the holiday as Yom Ha-Zikkaron (the day of
remembrance) or Yom Teruah (the day of the sounding of the shofar). The
holiday is instituted in Leviticus 23:24-25.
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The
shofar is a ram's horn which is blown somewhat like a trumpet. One of
the most important observances of this holiday is hearing the sounding
of the shofar in the Synagogue. A
total of 100 notes are sounded each day. There are four different types
of shofar notes: tekiah, a 3 second sustained note; shevarim, three
1-second notes rising in tone, teruah, a series of short, staccato notes
extending over a period of about 3 seconds; and tekiah gedolah
(literally "big tekiah"), the final blast in a set, which lasts 10
seconds minimum. The Bible gives no
specific reason for this practice. One that has been suggested is that
the shofar's sound is a call to repentance. The shofar is not blown if
the holiday falls on Shabbat.
No work
is permitted on Rosh Hashanah. Much of the day is spent in the
synagogue, where the regular daily liturgy is somewhat expanded. In
fact, there is a special prayer book called the machzor used for Rosh
Hashanah and Yom Kippur because of the extensive liturgical changes for
these holidays.
A popular observance during this holiday is eating apples dipped in honey, a symbol of our wish for a sweet new year.
Another popular practice of the holiday is Tashlikh ("casting off"). We walk to flowing water, such as a creek or river, on the afternoon of the first day and empty
our pockets into the river, symbolically casting off our sins. Small
pieces of bread are commonly put in the pocket to cast off. This
practice is not discussed in the Bible, but is a long-standing custom.
Tashlikh is normally observed on the afternoon of the first day, before
afternoon services. When the first day occurs on Shabbat, many
synagogues observe Tashlikh on Sunday afternoon, to avoid carrying the
bread on Shabbat.
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What Makes Rosh Hashanah Beautiful
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Religious services for the holiday focus on the concept of G-D's sovereignty. The
common greeting at this time is L'shanah tovah ("for a good year").
This is a shortening of "L'shanah tovah tikatev v'taihatem" (or to
women, "L'shanah tovah tikatevi v'taihatemi"), which means "May you be
inscribed and sealed for a good year."
You
may notice that the Bible speaks of Rosh Hashanah as occurring on the
first day of the seventh month. The first month of the Jewish Calendar
is Nissan, occurring in March and April. Why then, does the Jewish "new
year" occur in Tishri, the seventh month?
Judaism
has several different "new years," a concept which may seem strange at
first, but think of it this way; the American "new year" starts in
January, but the new "school year" starts in September, and many
businesses have "fiscal years" that start at various times of the year.
In Judaism, Nissan 1 is the new year for the purpose of counting the
reign of kings and months on the calendar, Elul 1 (in August) is the new
year for the tithing of animals, Shevat 15 (in February) is the new
year for trees (determining when first fruits can be eaten, etc.), and
Tishri 1 (Rosh Hashanah) is the new year for years (when we increase the
year number. Sabbatical and jubilee years begin at this time).
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As I dip my apple in honey this Rosh Hashanah, I will be thinking of you.
May we all have a healthy and sweet year!
Shana Tova Umetuka!
Madeleine Cohen and Staff
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Bell Wholesale Travel, Inc.
Toll Free (800) 637-2355 In Illinois (847) 412-0007 Fax (847) 412-0006
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