A New Year

The more I study the Hebrew Bible, the more I become convinced that understanding ancient Jewish practices can not only help modern Christians understand God’s work in this world in a different way, but will also aid our worship and interaction with God. Celebrating the sacraments aids in engaging our souls with God. I believe that ancient practices – Jewish and Christian – can accomplish the same interaction with the divine. To such ends, throughout the next year or so I will try to highlight various Jewish feasts and festivals (we would call them holidays) in an effort to assist our efforts to connect with God.

Tonight at Sundown begins “Rosh Hashanah” for the Jewish people. This is their new year’s celebration as the words “Rosh Hashanah” literally mean “head of the year.” This holiday marks the beginning of a ten-day period of prayer, self-examination and repentance, which culminate on the fast day of Yom Kippur. While there are elements of joy and celebration, Rosh Hashanah is a deeply religious occasion. The customs and symbols of Rosh Hashanah reflect the holiday's dual emphasis – happiness and humility. The Jewish people observe special customs on Rosh Hashanah. First they sound of the shofar alerting all in the hearing of the trumpet that it is a special occasion. They also eat apples dipped in honey to get a sweet start to the New Year. Also they eat round challah to remind them that the years go round and round. During the 10 Days of Awe, we set goals for the coming year and prepare for the holiest of days, Yom Kippur.

The most symbolic activity, and one which seems more appropriate for a new year than getting drunk and throwing confetti about involves repentance. It is customary to go to a river or sea where there are fish, for as fish are suddenly
caught in a net, so are we caught in the severe net of divine judgment; and gazing at the water, we contemplate our sins.

We then shake out our pockets seeking symbolically to "cast away" our accumulated sins and transgressions so that we may purify our hearts and our souls, as the new year begins (see Micah passage below). As we cast our sins into the water, we look at the water and try to remember the creation of the world by God, our Creator. We think about God and ask forgiveness for the things we have done wrong. The custom of going to a body of water on Rosh Hashanah is a symbolic allusion, for the waters which now seem to be at this place were not here before and will not remain afterward. So, if the sinner says to himself or herself: "I will not repeat my sin; my behavior will change", the sin, like the waters, will move on.

We read together from the Prophet Micah:
Who is like You, Adonai?
You forgive iniquity and pass over transgressions in your people.
You do not retain anger forever, for You delight in kindness.
You will again show us mercy and subdue our iniquities;
You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
You will show kindness to Jacob and mercy to Abraham,
as You did promise our ancestors of old.


So we pray to God:
Let us cast away the sin of deception, so that we will mislead no one in word or deed, nor pretend to be what we are not.
Let us cast away the sin of vain ambition, which prompts us to strive for goals which bring neither true fulfillment nor genuine contentment.
Let us cast away the sin of stubbornness, so that we will neither persists in foolish habits nor fail to acknowledge our will to change.
Let us cast away the sin of envy, so that we will neither be consumed by desire for what we lack nor grow unmindful of the blessings which are already ours.
Let us cast away the sin of selfishness, which keeps us from enriching our lives through wider concerns and great sharing and from reaching out in love to other human beings.
Let us cast away the sin of indifference, so that we may be sensitive to the sufferings of others and responsive to the needs of people everywhere.
Let us cast away the sin of pride and arrogance, so that we can worship God and serve God's purpose in humility and truth.

For you are…
Adonai, Adonai,
Compassion and Tenderness,
Patience, Forbearance,
Kindness, Awareness,
Bearing love from age to age,
Lifting guilt and mistakes,
And making us free.
Amen.


Some other things you could do by way of reflection:
List ten good things that happened in the last year.
Explain ten ways you’ve grown (new things you can do).