Happy New Year!

“On Friday night, Sept. 18, 2009, Jews will begin celebrating one of their most important religious holidays, Rosh Hashanah. It remembers the creation of the world. In Hebrew, Rosh Hashanah means the "head of the year." It is also called the Feast of the Trumpets. The blowing of a ram's horn, a shofar, proclaims Rosh Hashanah.” [http://www.factmonster.com/spot/roshhashanah1.html for further information.]

September 19, 2009, marks the beginning of the year 5770 on the Hebrew calendar, and the first day of the month of Tishri. Some believe that Adam was created on this day, 5,770 years ago. [http://www.chabad.org/calendar/view/day.asp?tdate=9/19/2009] You can read all about it in Genesis 1:26. “On the sixth day....”

Most of us in the west consider the celebration of New Year’s Eve/Day a secular holiday , an evening and a day wherein we consider the year past, plan for the coming year, and enjoy friends, food and drink. [In my 85-year-old COMMON SERVICE BOOK OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH, New Year’s Day is the time of celebrating “The Circumcision and Name of Jesus.”] While seeming to be all about celebrating, New Year’s provides many of us the occasion to consider seriously the times past and the times to come. Some people even make resolutions about changing their behaviors, perhaps giving up some “bad” habit, or resolving to change how they use their time or money.

For Jews, Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the 10 “Days of Awe” or “Days of Repentance.” Just as many Westerners resolve to make personal life changes at New Year’s, Jews here and abroad understand Rosh Hashanah as a time of reflection and introspection.

“These ten days, called The Ten Days of Teshuvah, are the most solemn days of the year -- days designated for soul-searching and return (teshuvah) to G-d. G-d is near--more attentive to our prayers, more accepting of our repentance, than on the other days of the year.” [http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/59160/jewish/Day-One.htm]

During these ten days, Jews will seek to reconcile wrongs done to other people, and to right those wrongs where possible, and ask forgiveness.

The 10 days end with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, this year beginning September 27 at sundown. Yom Kippur is a day of prayers, and one does not work or eat. Certain other limits apply: “...no bathing, no using creams and oils, no wearing of leather shoes, and no sexual relations.” [http://www.factmonster.com/spot/yomkippur1.html]

Jews believe that Yom Kippur atones for sins between people and God (Leviticus 23:26-32). Some (Jews and others) believe that God keeps books on our actions, writes down decrees about who will live and who will die during the next year, and “seals” the books on Yom Kippur.

Hmm... Reconciling wrongs, and being nearer to God, would make for a very happy New Year indeed!