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ROSH HOSHANAH

Rosh Hashanah 2022 begins on Sunday, September 25, 2022 and ends on the evening of Tuesday, September 27, 2022. The date … varies every year, since it is based on the Hebrew Calendar, where it begins on the first day of the seventh month. Rosh Hashanah is almost always in September or October. 

How heavy something feels, depends on how long we hold onto it. — aish.com

… we also know Rosh Hashanah as hayom harat olam, the day the world is gestating, preparing to be born. Hayom harat olam celebrates Rosh Hashanah as the day God created the world, yet it also proclaims our own ability to create our lives anew in the new year. — My Jewish Learning, full article: https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/rosh-hashanah-and-the-creativity-of-remembering/

… But Rosh Hashanah is not only festive; it is also a solemn time, a prelude to Yom Kippur, the Day of Judgment. Rosh Hashanah inaugurates the Days of Awe, ten days during which Jews reflect on their conduct, make amends for past wrongs, and set themselves to do better in the coming year. — My Jewish Learning, full article: https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/symbols-of-rosh-hashanah/

SONGS about ROSH HASHANAH:

REFLECTIONS on LETTING GO:

Accept yourself, love yourself, and keep moving forward. If you want to fly, you have to give up what weighs you down. ― Roy T. Bennett

The truth is, unless you let go, unless you forgive yourself, unless you forgive the situation, unless you realize that the situation is over, you cannot move forward. ― Steve Maraboli

If you want to forget something or someone, never hate it, or never hate him/her. Everything and everyone that you hate is engraved upon your heart; if you want to let go of something, if you want to forget, you cannot hate. ― C. JoyBell C.

Letting go doesn’t mean that you don’t care about someone anymore. It’s just realizing that the only person you really have control over is yourself. ― Deborah Reber Some people believe holding on and hanging in there are signs of great strength. However, there are times when it takes much more strength to know when to let go and then do it.”
― Ann Landers 

There ain’t no way you can hold onto something that wants to go, you understand? You can only love what you got while you got it. ― Kate DiCamillo

I realise there’s something incredibly honest about trees in winter, how they’re experts at letting things go. ― Jeffrey McDaniel

SONGS about FORGIVENESS & LETTING GO:

PERFORM TASHLICH (Tossing stone or bread crumb into water):

  1. Find a pebble or bread crumb to cast away (preferably do this on the afternoon of the first of second full day of Rosh Hashanah)
  2. Walk or travel to a body of moving water that supports life (river, ocean or you can use water from a fawcett in a pinch)
  3. Spend time being taking stock, as you walk, about what you want to change about yourself in relation to the prior year (as measured on the Jewish calendar): obstacles, shortcomings, mistakes
  4. Share out loud or silently with Godself, when you arrive by the water, this desire for transformation and a new beginning, by unburdening yourself of the weight of the past (especially those aspects of yourself that you may affect, such as your shortfalls, sins, errors): this will be your prayer for change and renewal
  5. Focus on this scripture: Micah 7:19, He will take us back in love; He will cover up our iniquities. You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
  6. Toss the pebble or crumb into the water as a symbolic act of starting over, seeking God’s forgiveness and compassion, and also being kind to yourself with hope for transformation in the year to come

Here is how one resource describes the Tashlich ritual — pjlibrary.org

Tashlich, which literally translates to “casting off,” is a ceremony performed on the afternoon of the first day of Rosh Hashanah. During this ceremony, Jews symbolically cast off the sins of the previous year by tossing pebbles or bread crumbs into flowing water. During this ritual, people think of things they’ve done wrong in the past year and then “throw them away,” promising for improvement in the coming year. — pjlibrary.org

ENTERING the NEW YEAR

From Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur is known as Aseret Yemei Teshuvah … Ten Days of Return… when “the gates of heaven are open, and I will listen to your prayers.”

Maimonides explains: “Even though repentance and crying out to G‑d are always timely, during the ten days from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur it is exceedingly appropriate, and accepted immediately [on high]… For these reasons, it is customary… to give profusely to charity, perform many good deeds, and be occupied with observance of G‑d’s commandments from Rosh Hashanah until Yom Kippur to a greater extent than during the remainder of the year.’

Why is this period unique? Rabbi Shmuel Eliezer Edeles (Maharsha, 1555-1631) explains that our fate for the coming year is decided on Rosh Hashanah but not sealed until Yom Kippur. Accordingly, this is the time to return to G‑d and beg Him to change the judgment for the better.

Seek — Cathy Cohen
When young, I couldn’t reach you
through language.
I felt distant from your prayer book names
steeped in punishment, in law and judgment.
Instead, I sought you
in the quiet of the sanctuary, in chanting,
in families shoulder to shoulder.
I sought you in vowels,
in silent pause between words,
in breath.
Eheyeh asher eheyeh
shimmers
with the possible.
Eheyeh asher eheyeh
surround
of openness, forgiveness.
Here
a sense of your essence.

Head of the Year — Marge Piercy
The moon is dark tonight, a new
moon for a new year. It is
hollow and hungers to be full.
It is the black zero of beginning.
Now you must void yourself
of injuries, insults, incursions.
Go with empty hands to those
you have hurt and make amends.
It is not too late. It is early
and about to grow. Now
is the time to do what you
know you must and have feared
to begin. Your face is dark
too as you turn inward to face
yourself, the hidden twin of
all you must grow to be.
Forgive the dead year. Forgive
yourself. What will be wants
to push through your fingers.
The light you seek hides
in your belly. The light you
crave longs to stream from
your eyes. You are the moon
that will wax in new goodness.

Closing The Cycle ― Paulo Coelho 

One always has to know when a stage comes to an end. If we insist on staying longer than the necessary time, we lose the happiness and the meaning of the other stages we have to go through. Closing cycles, shutting doors, ending chapters – whatever name we give it, what matters is to leave in the past the moments of life that have finished.

Did you lose your job? Has a loving relationship come to an end? Did you leave your parents’ house? Gone to live abroad? Has a long-lasting friendship ended all of a sudden?

You can spend a long time wondering why this has happened. You can tell yourself you won’t take another step until you find out why certain things that were so important and so solid in your life have turned into dust, just like that. But such an attitude will be awfully stressing for everyone involved: your parents, your husband or wife, your friends, your children, your sister, everyone will be finishing chapters, turning over new leaves, getting on with life, and they will all feel bad seeing you at a standstill.

None of us can be in the present and the past at the same time, not even when we try to understand the things that happen to us. What has passed will not return: we cannot for ever be children, late adolescents, sons that feel guilt or rancor towards our parents, lovers who day and night relive an affair with someone who has gone away and has not the least intention of coming back.

Things pass, and the best we can do is to let them really go away. That is why it is so important (however painful it may be!) to destroy souvenirs, move, give lots of things away to orphanages, sell or donate the books you have at home. Everything in this visible world is a manifestation of the invisible world, of what is going on in our hearts – and getting rid of certain memories also means making some room for other memories to take their place.

Let things go. Release them. Detach yourself from them. Nobody plays this life with marked cards, so sometimes we win and sometimes we lose. Do not expect anything in return, do not expect your efforts to be appreciated, your genius to be discovered, your love to be understood. Stop turning on your emotional television to watch the same program over and over again, the one that shows how much you suffered from a certain loss: that is only poisoning you, nothing else.

Nothing is more dangerous than not accepting love relationships that are broken off, work that is promised but there is no starting date, decisions that are always put off waiting for the “ideal moment.” Before a new chapter is begun, the old one has to be finished: tell yourself that what has passed will never come back. Remember that there was a time when you could live without that thing or that person – nothing is irreplaceable, a habit is not a need. This may sound so obvious, it may even be difficult, but it is very important.

Closing cycles. Not because of pride, incapacity or arrogance, but simply because that no longer fits your life. Shut the door, change the record, clean the house, shake off the dust. Stop being who you were, and change into who you are.

Traditional poem read for Rosh Hashanah:

U­netanah Tokef
(for Rosh Hashanah – Jewish New Year)
We shall ascribe holiness to this day. 
For it is awesome and terrible. 
Your kingship is exalted upon it.
Your throne is established in mercy.
You are enthroned upon it in truth.
In truth You are the judge,
The exhorter, the all‑knowing, the witness,
He who inscribes and seals,
Remembering all that is forgotten.
You open the book of remembrance
Which proclaims itself,
And the seal of each person is there.
The great shofaris sounded,
A still small voice is heard.
The angels are dismayed,
They are seized by fear and trembling
As they proclaim: Behold the Day of Judgment!
For all the hosts of heaven are brought for judgment.
They shall not be guiltless in Your eyes
And all creatures shall parade before You as a troop.
As a shepherd herds his flock,
Causing his sheep to pass beneath his staff,
So do You cause to pass, count, and record,
Visiting the souls of all living,
Decreeing the length of their days,
Inscribing their judgment.
On Rosh Hashanah it is inscribed,
And on Yom Kippur it is sealed.
How many shall pass away and how many shall be born,
Who shall live and who shall die,
Who shall reach the end of his days
and who shall not,
Who shall perish by water and who by fire,
Who by sword and who by wild beast,
Who by famine and who by thirst,
Who by earthquake and who by plague,
Who by strangulation and who by stoning,
Who shall have rest and who shall wander,
Who shall be at peace and who shall be pursued,
Who shall be at rest and who shall be tormented,
Who shall be exalted and who shall be brought low,
Who shall become rich and
who shall be impoverished. 
But repentance, prayer and righteousness
avert the severe decree.
For Your praise is in accordance with Your name. You are difficult to anger and easy to appease. For You do not desire the death of the condemned, but that he turn from his path and live. Until the day of his death You wait for him. Should he turn, You will receive him at once. In truth You are their Creator and You understand their inclination, for they are but flesh and blood. The origin of man is dust, his end is dust. He earns his bread by exertion and is like a broken shard, like dry grass, a withered flower, like a passing shadow and a vanishing cloud, like a breeze that blows away and dust that scatters, like a dream that flies away. But You are King, God who lives for all eternity! There is no limit to Your years, no end to the length of Your days, no measure to the hosts of Your glory, no understanding the meaning of Your Name. Your Name is fitting unto You and You are fitting unto it, and our name has been called by Your Name. Act for the sake of Your Name and sanctify Your Name through those who sanctity Your Name.

Welcome the Jewish New Year With These Rosh Hashanah Prayers — Kelsey Hurwitz, full article: https://www.womansday.com/life/a33276271/rosh-hashanah-prayers/

Four important prayers to recite on Rosh Hashanah, including the blessing over apples and honey.

Beginning at sundown on Sunday, September 25, 2022, Jews around the world will begin to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, which ends at sundown on Tuesday, September 27, 2022. Rosh Hashanah literally translates to the “head of the year” in Hebrew and is considered a day for Jews to remember both the highs and lows of the past year, and look to how they may improve in the New Year. Reciting Rosh Hashanah prayers from the machzor (or prayer book used during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) is just one way to celebrate the Jewish Holiday.

Sounding a shofar (a ram’s horn), enjoying festive meals such as round challah bread and apples dipped in honey, and attending Torah readings at your local synagogue are other traditional rituals many Jewish families practice during the holiday. Whether you are planning a Rosh Hashanah meal for your family and friends, are looking for ways to celebrate the New Year at home, or want to learn more about Rosh Hashanah prayers, these four selections are a great place to start when it comes to welcoming the Jewish New Year.Candle lighting prayer

Lighting candles is a major part of all Jewish holidays. There are many reasons why candlelight is important in Jewish tradition, and a lot of it comes from the Torah. “The process of imposing order on chaos begins with the divine command, ‘Let there be light’ (Genesis 1:3),” said Ismar Schorsch, a professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary. As you light candles this Rosh Hashanah, you can say the following prayer:

rosh hashanah prayers

Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech haolam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu l’hadlik ner shel (Shabbat v’shel) Yom Tov.

The English translation is: “Blessed are You, our God, Ruler of the world, who sanctifies us with mitzvot and calls upon us to kindle the lights of (Shabbat and) the Festival day.”Kiddush

The Kiddush is a blessing to sanctify the beginning of the holiday. It is said over a glass of wine or grape juice.

rosh hashanah prayers

Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech haolam, borei p’ri hagafen.

Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech haolam, asher bachar banu mikol-am, v’rom’manu mikol-lashon, kid’shanu b’mitzvotav. Va-titen-lanu Adonai Eloheinu, b’ahavah et-yom ha-zikaron ha-zeh, yom T’ruah, mikrah kodesh, zacher li-tzi-at Mitrayim. Ki vanu vacharta, v’otanu kidashta, mikol haamim, ud’vrachah emet v’kayam la-ad. Baruch atah, Adonai, Melech al kol ha-aretz, mikadesh Yisrael v’yom hazikaron.

The English translation is:

“Praise to You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine.

Praise to You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the universe, who has chosen us from all the peoples, hallowing us with mitzvot. In Your love, Adonai our God, You have given us this Day of Remembrance, to hear the sound of the Shofar, to unite in worship, and to recall the Exodus from Egypt. For You have chosen us from all the peoples, consecrating us to Your service, and Your word is truth eternal. Praised is the Sovereign God, Sovereign of all the world, who hallows the House of Israel and the Day of Remembrance.”Shehecheyanu

The Shehecheyanu is a prayer that Jews say to mark special occasions. It is said on especially holy days, but it is also said as a celebration and thank you for blessings that occur in everyday life, such as the birth of a child, getting a new job, or achieving something you worked very hard for or didn’t think you could accomplish. As Rosh Hashanah is one of the holiest days on the Jewish calendar, it is an important time to say the Shehecheyanu.

rosh hashanah prayers

Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech haolam, shehecheyanu v’kiy’manu v’higianu laz’man hazeh.

In English: “Praise to You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the universe, for giving us life, for sustaining us, and for enabling us to reach this season.”Blessing over apples and honey

On Rosh Hashanah, Jews eat apples dipped in honey to signify the sweet new year. If you’re enjoying the special new year treat, then you can say this two-part prayer before enjoying the sweet treat.

rosh hashanah prayer

Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, borei p’ri ha-eitz.

In English: “We praise You, Eternal God, Sovereign of the Universe, Creator of the fruit of the tree.”

rosh hashanah prayers

Y’hi ratzon milfanecha, Adonai Eloheinu v’Elohei
avoteinu v’imoteinu, shetchadesh aleinu shanah tovah um’tukah.

In English: “May it be Your will, Eternal our God, that this be a good and sweet year for us.”

Rosh Hashanah greetings

It’s certainly appropriate to wish someone celebrating Rosh Hashanah a happy and healthy New Year. You can also use the Hebrew greeting Shanah Tovah, which translates to, “For a good and sweet year.”

Whether you’re celebrating the High Holiday of Rosh Hashanah in a synagogue or at home this year, these prayers can provide comfort and celebration as you reflect on the past year and prepare to enter the new one. Shanah Tovah!

HISTORY of TASHLICH (full article: https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/rosh-hashanah-history)

On the first day of , Jews traditionally proceed to a body of running water, preferably one containing fish, and symbolically cast off their sins. The ceremony includes reading the source passage for the practice, the last verses from the prophet Micah(7:19), “He will take us back in love; He will cover up our iniquities. You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.”

Selections from Psalms, particularly Psalm 118 and Psalm 130, along with supplications and a kabbalisticprayer hoping God will treat Israel with mercy, are parts of Tashlich in various communities.

History of Tashlich

The custom developed around the 13th century and became widespread despite objections from rabbis who feared superstitious people would believe that tashlich, rather than the concerted effort ofteshuvah, had the power to change their lives. Religious leaders were particularly opposed to the practice of tossing bread crumbs, representing sins, into the water, and even shaking one’s garments to loosen any evil clinging to them was discouraged.

See the full text of the Tashlich prayer here.

Superstitious rites most likely did influence ceremony. Primitive people believed that the best way to win favor from evil spirits living in waterways was to give them gifts. Some peoples, including the Babylonian Jews, sent “sin‑filled” containers out into the water. (The
describes the practice of growing beans or peas for two or three weeks prior to the new year in a woven basket for each child in a family. In an early variation of the kaparot ritual, the basket, representing the child, was swung around the head seven times and then flung into the water.) Kurdistani Jews threw themselves into the water and swam around to be cleansed of their sins.

The Symbolism of Water

To make the practice symbolic rather than superstitious, the rabbis gave it ethical meaning. Through Midrash, they connected the water with the Akedah, the binding of Isaac. When Abraham was on his way to sacrifice Isaac, they said, Satan (which could be understood as the voice inside Abraham telling him not to kill his beloved son) tried to stop him. When Abraham refused to heed his voice, Satan became a raging river blocking Abraham’s way. Abraham proceeded nevertheless. When the water reached his neck and he called out for God’s help, the waters immediately subsided.

Water was also seen as symbolic of the creation of the world and of all life. Kings of Israel were crowned near springs, suggesting continuity, like the King of Kings’ unending sovereignty. Since the prophets Ezekiel and Daniel each received revelation near a body of water, it was seen as a place to find God’s presence. As the element of purification, water also represents the opportunity to cleanse the body and soul and take a new course in our lives. (Later rabbis continued to protest against the ritual, on grounds that it encouraged new sins by creating a social situation where people could gossip and men and women mingle, as Isaac Bashevis Singer’s story “Tashlich” illustrates.)

Although the rabbis preferred that Tashlich be done at a body of water containing fish (man cannot escape God’s judgment any more than fish can escape being caught in a net; we are just as likely to be ensnared and trapped at any moment as is a fish), since this is, after all, a symbolic ceremony, any body of water will do, even water running out of a hose or a faucet.

If the first day of Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbat, Ashkenazi Jews [Jews of European descent] do Tashlich on the second day (so as not to carry prayer books to the water, which would violate Sabbath laws). Sephardic Jews [Jews of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern descent] perform the ritual even on the Sabbath [as do a number of liberal Jews]. The ceremony can take place any time during the holiday season through Hoshanah Rabbah at the end of
.
Excerpted from Celebrate!: The Complete Jewish Holidays Handbook.

ROSH HOSHANAH
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