Sending Rosh Hashanah Blessings
I was touched by the kind gesture of my soul sister Elaine Robinson and friends from Sir Manasseh Meyer International School - SMMIS (SMMIS) for sending me a ๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ฉ ๐๐ข๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข gift.
A honey cake, ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ฉ, apple, and honey to celebrate the coming of the new Jewish year.
As I join my Jewish friends in the spirit of this occasion, I take time to understand and reflect on what this occasion means.
It begins with the sound of the shofar.
โโฆ.๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฆ๐ณ๐ค๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ถ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ค๐ช๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ข๐ต ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ท๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด. ๐๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ญ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ค๐ญ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ถ๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ฉ ๐๐ข๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข.โ
For Jewish people, following
๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ฉ ๐๐ข๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข are the high holy days of reflection and introspection. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks says:*
๐๐ค ๐ค๐ฃ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ค ๐๐๐จ ๐๐๐ฃ๐ช๐๐ฃ๐๐ก๐ฎ ๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐ค๐จ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ค๐ข ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ช๐ง ๐ก๐๐ซ๐๐จ ๐๐ฃ ๐ช๐ฃ๐๐ญ๐๐ข๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐๐.
This is similar to the ๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ period for Muslims when we are devoted to prayers seeking repentance and reflection. Perhaps we can learn from one another how to strengthen our devotion to our beliefs that are alike in spirituality but different in forms.
I am grateful to my Jewish friends for including me and the opportunity to share this blessed moment, near and far.
โืฉื ื ืืืื ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ท๐ข๐ฉ (good year) to Jewish friends! May the new year be filled with good health, peace, love, and joy.
*Source:
Page 2, โCeremony & Celebration: Introduction to the Holidaysโ by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
