We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
Letter To My Son (on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, 1831):
To my beloved son, Isaac, may his light shine;
May the Almighty strengthen your heart and move you on the great and fearful day of Rosh Hashanah which is appraching, that you may make it your purpose henceforth to renew yourself each day for good. Do not lose a day without a period of solitary meditation, during which you will contemplate your ultimate purpose. Snatch each day as much study of Torah, prayer and good deeds as you will be able to steal from this passing shade, this vanity of vanities, this evanescent cloud. Remember well that all our days are nothing. Every man can snatch in them some piece of eternity on some level.
In the Talmud is written: "In the place where repentant sinners stand perfect saints cannot stand." The estate of the repentant sinner is even higher than that of the perfect saint. The repentant sinner had to struggle more fiercely to subdue their evil inclination.
Bird Dog alerted me to this delightful video. Among all the seriousness, we still find ways to have fun. Fun often transmits messages just as well.
A note about understanding "Shana Tovah", the traditional Jewish New Year's greeting: Literally, it means a good new year. Many, however, offer it as a happy new year. But, happiness is not an accurate measure of goodness. Further, "shana" as a verb can mean change. What we work for is to change for the better.
Repost below from 2009:
Be a light unto the world
The
ten day period from Rosh Hashanah, beginning tonight, through Yom
Kippur is often called the Ten Days Of Repentance or Penitence or
Atonement, but the term High Holidays emphasizes the personal, inward
looking nature of this time, our highest obligation being
self-responsibility for our thoughts and deeds.The repeated blowing of the Shofar symbolizes the sounds from Mount Sinai
in the 40-days until receiving the Ten Commandments, the Israelites
trembling in awe, hence another name for the holidays Days Of Awe.
Central to the High Holidays is Teshuvah, or return.Sincere,
complete Teshuvah allows us to begin anew, our sins forgiven, and to be
our mission as the light unto others. Teshuvah, according to
Maimonides, requires four steps:
1. Leaving the Sin Leaving
the sin consists of stopping the commission of the sinful act. One
cannot do Teshuvah if one continues to do the sin, even if he or she
were to perform the next three steps perfectly.
2. Regret Regret consists in sincerely regretting one's wrong action. One must be genuinely ashamed and embarrassed over one's sins.
3. Confession Before G-d Acceptance for the future consists of resolving in one's heart never to commit the sin ever again.
4. Acceptance for the Future Confession
before G-d consists of an oral confession spoken out loud, in which one
formulates in words the commitments and attitudes one has reached in
his or her heart. One should say, "I have sinned, I have done such and
such; I deeply regret my actions, and I declare before G-d, Who knows my
innermost thoughts, that I will never do this sin again."
But...
1.
The above steps only work for sins committed against G-d; for sins
committed against other people, one must first ask forgiveness from that
person before G-d will accept the Teshuvah.
This
is the source of the practice by many Jews to contact all of their
family, friends and co-workers during this period to ask for forgiveness
for anything we may have done to upset them during the past year(s).
2.
These four steps are of course only valid if we do Teshuvah AFTER THE
FACT. One cannot say in advance - "I can do this sin, then do Teshuvah
and He will forgive me..." It simply doesn't work that way as it may in
other belief systems
On the other hand...
One
should keep in mind that Teshuvah is an ongoing process that cannot be
accomplished overnight. No matter how many times a person may stumble in
the Teshuvah process, that person has to simply pick him or herself up
and keep trying to stay on the right path.
What G-d is really looking for is the sincerity of the effort that a person puts into their Teshuvah!
Near
the conclusion of Yom Kippur we fervently implore G-d to have heard our
sincerity, in the prayer Neilah, that ends with Thou desirest the
repentance of the wicked and not their death, as it is written: Have I
any desire, says the Lord, for the death of the wicked man? Would I not
rather that he should mend his ways and live?"
This
Roman rite prayer book, printed by Joshua Solomon Soncino in 1486, is
one of the earliest published. Volume 2, containing the prayer for the
High Holy Days, Rosh Hashanah (the New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of
Atonement), is open to a penitential prayer in the fifth and final
service of the Day of Atonement, Ne'ilah (the closing of
the gates). It begins: "Thou stretcheth forth thy hand to the sinner,
and thy right hand is open to receive the repentant." It is the only
prayer printed in large type throughout. Could this have been done with
Marronos in mind, those who had been forcibly converted but retained
loyalty to the ancestral faith?
Mahzor Minhag Roma (A Prayer Book of the Roman Rite), Casalmaggiore, 1486. Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress
If you think Teshuvah is an easy task, just consider the sins listed in the oft-repeated prayer Al Chet, as we traditionally pound our chest.
We greet each other at the start of the High Holidays with 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."The inscribed refers to the Book Of Life, the judgments of G-d being sealed upon each at the close of Yom Kippur.Go back and review the sins list again, and again, and Return to the righteous path G-d desires of us and we of each other.
Wonderful post, BK. Have always admired the old tribe --the way it has held itself together over time and troubles, the way it raises its children, its serious and humane influence. Oh yes, and the comedians --what without the comedians would we do?
1) There is a lot more joy in the Jewish calendar than solemnity - unfortunately many unaffiliated Jews only experience the High Holidays, without sticking around for Sukkot - the Feast of Tabernacles, a joyous weeklong harvest festival that comes just a few days after the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur).
2) While in Europe and North America, these holidays come as autumn falls - here in Israel these holidays come as the dry, dead heat of summer turns into heavy dew and fertile winter rain - a time of rebirth and reawakening.
This casts the task of Teshuva in a different light. Yes the word means return - not just to G-d, but to G-d's pure conception of you, to your inner soul which no bad deed can stain.
This is uncerscored by a traditional reckoning that sets Jewish New Year - which kicks off this period - as the day when Adam and Eve were created.
Similarly, the Day of Atonement coincides with the day Moses brought the second, man-made tablets down from Sinai - a symbol of forgiveness AND of the human effort involved in teshuva.
Rick, the apple and honey tradition is for their symbolism, the apple for its budding even before the tree's leaves representing the acceptance of Commandments even before reaching Israel, the honey for its sweetness representing a better, changed new year. For more:
http://www.aish.com/h/hh/rh/guide/Apples_and_Honey.html
Juice? I'm not sure I get what you are referring to. But juice is better for the kids than being allowed to drink wine. Although a drop of wine doesn't hurt and many, I included, believe it helps prevent "forbidden fruit" desires that can lead to overindulgence when they are older.
Great post Bruce. I never knew there were two forms of the greeting - all these years, I've been using the male form for my Jewish friends. Thank you for that.
Don't sweat it Tom. Many languages, like the Romance languages, have male and female forms. -- Don't forget to report them all to the gender-discrimination police.
Ha! I was just thinking that this weekend. What do the inclusive language folks do about languages with gendered nouns?
One part of the video caused me to raise my eyebrows, though: Did that kid give the baby some honey? The prayer Neilah must also be a prayer of healing.
Ha, Johnny. Yes, honey taste for babies too, unless the parents are sugar abolitionists. -- Neilah is last fervent prayer for forgiveness. No where does it, nor the Al Chet long list of sins, mention sugar as a sin. Unless, of course, maybe one belongs to the Synagogue Of What's Happenin' Now and its version. Oy! Their list of sins must call out some progresso-pop favs.
Thanks for the clear explanations of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Bruce. You just proved once again to me that I can learn something new every day.
There is a wonderful Jewish bakery down the bayou from our house, and they make wonderful challah, which makes great hot pastrami sandwiches, the likes of which I subsisted on, along with cheese blintzes, while I was in college. My husband, who also like to think he can still learn something new at 86, has developed a passion for cheese blintzes, too.
Which is one of the reasons I married him -- an open mind and an open heart.
I didn't realize how much of the Christian tradition of Confession comes straight from Judaism.
The word "Repent," which we (Christians) use a lot, literally means Re-think (as in the French word pensee). Turn around.
This Jewish Confession is so close to the Christian confessions. Jesus must have said similar confessions in his Jewish community in the first century. I appreciate your sharing very much.
Well, Israel overcame the gloom of a year ago and survived the year in right good shape --low unemployment, high growth, strong currency --despite the Arab Spring and everything else the international left and a temporarily ascendant Chicago netherworld could sling at her.
Marianne is a luminous presence here at Maggie's, as I'm sure she is wherever she alights. But you, Buddy, also bring a wonderful light to the world! Doesn't Maggie's have a constellation of the brightest commenters!
I apologize for the saccharine comment...it's the 'dip your apple' video. It's in my head.
LOL --i think we both got 'touched' by the context of the thread. Anyhoo, they say Spinoza is coming back into interest, and that, as far as i can savvy it, is his thesis --that G_d (i'm not Jewish but in deference to the thread, so-spelled) IS in your head --that that IS the manifestation --the thought. I probably have that all wrong, but that shan't stop the blurt --
In my youth I waxed quixotic in my dreams, though now I dream of the merely possible. Visions of pastoral settings, green pastures and still waters comfort me. A branch and a root from a tree give me a place to rest my head in a cool shade. It's a place liberated from worldly concerns where I'm safe to pursue my ruminations. By all means you are welcome in my dreams!
from birth to death, we travel between the eternities. the introspection always yields up how pitifully little, in the great scheme of things, we our ownselves amount to, except for that fact, that we do hold apart the two eternities, and keep them from crashing into each other.
