The evening of September 6, 2021 will launch the 5782th Jewish New Year.
The Hebrew word Rosh (ראש) means first/head/beginning and Hashanah (השנה) means the year. The root of the Hebrew word Shanah is both “repeat” and “change.” Rosh Hashanah constitutes an annual reminder of the need to enhance one’s behavior through a systematic study of moral values, learning from experience and avoiding past errors. Rosh Hashanah ushers-in the Ten Days of Repentance, which are concluded on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement).
Humility. Rosh Hashanah is celebrated on the 6th day of Creation, when the first human-being, Adam, was created. Adam is the Hebrew word for a human-being (אדמ). Adam was created with humility before G-d. Adam strayed, the original sin, that we work to overcome with our learning the strength and humility to do what's right, regardless the temptation .
I think it’s very important that we think about what humility means and how we embody it as we walk into the High Holidays.
We are encouraged to enter humbly into the holidays as we stand before God and ourselves. But what does that mean?
It’s about dropping everything and anything that has to do with ego - pride, embarrassment, shame, jealousy, comparing myself to others and so much more. Humility is about standing in truth and that truth includes your strengths as well. It includes all of you. None of it is bad or good. But that truth reveals the parts of ourselves that may be getting in our own way. And we’re only able to see those things once we can humbly walk through them. And once we see them, well, that’s when the growth begins.
No one is watching your journey through the holidays. It is yours to have and experience. And it is between you, God (if God is a part of the equation for you), and yourself. Make the most of it.
Let’s walk humbly together into these coming days, vulnerable, open, and honest.
(I humbly borrowed most of the above from several wise ones.)
