Finally!!! The juicy meats, the kugels and casseroles, the roasted vegetables, the chicken soup eagerly awaiting the addition of matzah balls, and the puffy loaves of gefilte fish are tucked away neatly in the refrigerator. Seven round loaves of challah bread and countless bottles of grape juice and wine, both required for the traditional holiday blessings, are occupying corners of my humble kitchen today. I relish this moment as I sit sipping ice water, while tapping out this salute to a remarkable time of our year.
This evening begins Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Unlike the secular calendar, we are beginning the year 5774 at sundown, which will occur in approximately one hour and a half. The holiday lasts for a blessed two days, during which we commune with loved ones over glorious feasts that the members of each household have spent days preparing. We eat apples dipped in honey to welcome a sweet new year. Our challah bread is round instead of the usual long braided type to remind us of the cycle of life. We turn to G-d and ask for forgiveness, and we pray to be written in the heavenly book of life to ensure a healthy year ahead, both physically and spiritually.
I, like others, have been shopping and cooking, preparing to dress up our table with small decorative apples and cloths the colors of apples and honey. Our children all help; 11-year-old Simmy produced a scrumptious-looking sweet potato casserole with a little help from a colorful children's holiday cookbook. Windows are clean, floors are mopped, clothing is hung. With all this running and cooking, we sometimes forget that it is not just about the food. We will go to synagogue and hear the sound of the shofar, the ram's horn that wakes our senses to the urgency of connecting to our Creator and striving to be the best that we can be.
While we prepare for the feast, other preparations are taking place. As I peeled vegetables just yesterday, the US and Israel conducted a joint anti-missile test in the Mediterranean Sea, mere kilometers from our coastline. Our safe room, which doubles as a bedroom for two of our children, is well stocked with food items and gas masks. We have made adjustments in the heavy sliding metal window should we have to make the room airtight in a hurry. We hope we won't be needing to drink from those stored water bottles, or to open the crackers or peanut butter waiting inside our children's clothes closet. So we glaze the corned beef, julienne the vegetables, and set the table with finery fit for a king. It keeps our focus on the high road, the path to holiness. It raises us above thoughts of fear that we are certain would indicate a lack of trust in our Creator, whom we gather together tonight to acknowledge, praise and ultimately thank for the protection He provides, even in the eye of the ever-growing closer winds of war.
I wish you all a shanah tovah u'metukah, a good and sweet year. And for all people everywhere, I pray for peace.
This evening begins Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Unlike the secular calendar, we are beginning the year 5774 at sundown, which will occur in approximately one hour and a half. The holiday lasts for a blessed two days, during which we commune with loved ones over glorious feasts that the members of each household have spent days preparing. We eat apples dipped in honey to welcome a sweet new year. Our challah bread is round instead of the usual long braided type to remind us of the cycle of life. We turn to G-d and ask for forgiveness, and we pray to be written in the heavenly book of life to ensure a healthy year ahead, both physically and spiritually.
I, like others, have been shopping and cooking, preparing to dress up our table with small decorative apples and cloths the colors of apples and honey. Our children all help; 11-year-old Simmy produced a scrumptious-looking sweet potato casserole with a little help from a colorful children's holiday cookbook. Windows are clean, floors are mopped, clothing is hung. With all this running and cooking, we sometimes forget that it is not just about the food. We will go to synagogue and hear the sound of the shofar, the ram's horn that wakes our senses to the urgency of connecting to our Creator and striving to be the best that we can be.
While we prepare for the feast, other preparations are taking place. As I peeled vegetables just yesterday, the US and Israel conducted a joint anti-missile test in the Mediterranean Sea, mere kilometers from our coastline. Our safe room, which doubles as a bedroom for two of our children, is well stocked with food items and gas masks. We have made adjustments in the heavy sliding metal window should we have to make the room airtight in a hurry. We hope we won't be needing to drink from those stored water bottles, or to open the crackers or peanut butter waiting inside our children's clothes closet. So we glaze the corned beef, julienne the vegetables, and set the table with finery fit for a king. It keeps our focus on the high road, the path to holiness. It raises us above thoughts of fear that we are certain would indicate a lack of trust in our Creator, whom we gather together tonight to acknowledge, praise and ultimately thank for the protection He provides, even in the eye of the ever-growing closer winds of war.
I wish you all a shanah tovah u'metukah, a good and sweet year. And for all people everywhere, I pray for peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment