Jewish New Year's custom is being revitalized
12:00 AM CDT on Saturday, September 23, 2006
By ANSLEY ROAN Religion News Service
Jews around the country will visit rivers, beaches and streams this weekend as they celebrate Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. Many will have bread in their pockets.
Miami police will stop traffic at several intersections to allow members of Temple Israel to walk to Biscayne Bay. On the Upper West Side of Manhattan, hundreds of Jews will converge near the Hudson River. More than 300 people are expected to play drums at Venice Beach in California before walking to the ocean.
In Plano, those gathered for evening services at Lang Chabad Center will walk to a local stream.
In a tradition known as Tashlich, they will throw bread or something similar into the water to symbolically cast off their sins.
"Rosh Hashana is the beginning of the period of judgment and repentance," said David Kraemer, a professor of Talmud and rabbinics at Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. "You want to get rid of your sins, both symbolically and otherwise, because it will increase the likelihood that you'll be forgiven."
For Jews, a 10-day period of reflection and repentance that begins with Rosh Hashana culminates in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement (which begins at sundown on Oct. 1).
Rosh Hashana is celebrated with special synagogue services where the shofar, or ram's horn, is sounded. Tashlich is usually done on the first day of Rosh Hashana, but this year that falls on a Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, so many people will opt for Sunday. Others will do it on any day before Yom Kippur.
"There's no doubt it's become more popular," Dr. Kraemer said. "It's one of those customs that has caught on. I think it has a return-to-the-earth feel, a hands-on, kind of primitive feel."
While anyone from the Orthodox to the unaffiliated may choose to participate in this custom, which dates from the 15th century, the nature of the ceremony and its interpretations vary. Tashlich, which means "you will cast away," is inspired by verses in the Book of Micah.
"The tradition is that we go to the closest body of water and say a prayer," said Moshe Elefant, executive rabbinic coordinator and chief operating officer of the Orthodox Union. "In the Orthodox tradition, men and women don't sit together when they pray, but when they say Tashlich, a family will go together."
At Temple Israel of Greater Miami, a Reform congregation in the city center, about 40 people will pass expensive condominiums under construction as they walk to Biscayne Bay.
"Temple Israel sits equidistant between almost abject poverty and incredible luxury," said Rabbi Mitchell Chefitz. "We bring an awareness with us. It's a recognition that there's more we can do to have justice flow more equitably. On Rosh Hashana morning especially, there's the tendency of this congregation to raise social consciousness."
Bet Shira, a Conservative congregation in Miami, has planned its first pre-Tashlich family service with story and songs for children. They'll then join others from the congregation at a nearby canal.
"You get a real sense of community, standing there on the grass with all your friends, and everyone's children," said Ronald Rosengarten, president of the congregation. "You have ducks and children running around. It's a Jewish experience of nature."
Traditionally, the bread is thrown into a natural body of water, such as a stream or river, rather than a pool or fountain.
"It's the idea that God's creation is that which absolves and forgives, along with God personally, the actions and mistakes we've made over the past year," said Rabbi Micah Caplan of Bet Shira.
Members of Nashuva, an unaffiliated congregation in Los Angeles, celebrate Tashlich at Venice Beach in a nontraditional service.
"Usually, the shofar is blown in the temple during Rosh Hashana, but we took the shofar-blowing to the beach," said Rabbi Naomi Levy. "We started a drumming circle at the beach.
At Nashuva, the whole theme of what we work on at the high holidays is about restoration and renewal, so Tashlich becomes this metaphor of letting go and embracing the new year with wholeness and a sense of rebirth."
Helene Rosenzweig of Santa Monica, who was raised as a Conservative Jew in New York, has attended the Nashuva service.
"My evolution of Tashlich is from this little kid, where we took baggies of Wonder Bread and sins like, 'I told a lie,' to thinking about things that weigh you down, that don't allow you to move forward emotionally or psychologically," she said. "The drums parallel the cathartic nature of the event."
As powerful as the ceremony feels, it's not a magical absolution, Rabbi Levy said.
"Judaism very much stresses the work we have to do," she said. "If you've hurt someone, it's your job to make it right with that person. The ceremony is ultimately liberating only if we've done the legwork to get to the place of true renewal."
12:00 AM CDT on Saturday, September 23, 2006
By ANSLEY ROAN Religion News Service
Jews around the country will visit rivers, beaches and streams this weekend as they celebrate Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. Many will have bread in their pockets.
Miami police will stop traffic at several intersections to allow members of Temple Israel to walk to Biscayne Bay. On the Upper West Side of Manhattan, hundreds of Jews will converge near the Hudson River. More than 300 people are expected to play drums at Venice Beach in California before walking to the ocean.
In Plano, those gathered for evening services at Lang Chabad Center will walk to a local stream.
In a tradition known as Tashlich, they will throw bread or something similar into the water to symbolically cast off their sins.
"Rosh Hashana is the beginning of the period of judgment and repentance," said David Kraemer, a professor of Talmud and rabbinics at Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. "You want to get rid of your sins, both symbolically and otherwise, because it will increase the likelihood that you'll be forgiven."
For Jews, a 10-day period of reflection and repentance that begins with Rosh Hashana culminates in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement (which begins at sundown on Oct. 1).
Rosh Hashana is celebrated with special synagogue services where the shofar, or ram's horn, is sounded. Tashlich is usually done on the first day of Rosh Hashana, but this year that falls on a Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, so many people will opt for Sunday. Others will do it on any day before Yom Kippur.
"There's no doubt it's become more popular," Dr. Kraemer said. "It's one of those customs that has caught on. I think it has a return-to-the-earth feel, a hands-on, kind of primitive feel."
While anyone from the Orthodox to the unaffiliated may choose to participate in this custom, which dates from the 15th century, the nature of the ceremony and its interpretations vary. Tashlich, which means "you will cast away," is inspired by verses in the Book of Micah.
"The tradition is that we go to the closest body of water and say a prayer," said Moshe Elefant, executive rabbinic coordinator and chief operating officer of the Orthodox Union. "In the Orthodox tradition, men and women don't sit together when they pray, but when they say Tashlich, a family will go together."
At Temple Israel of Greater Miami, a Reform congregation in the city center, about 40 people will pass expensive condominiums under construction as they walk to Biscayne Bay.
"Temple Israel sits equidistant between almost abject poverty and incredible luxury," said Rabbi Mitchell Chefitz. "We bring an awareness with us. It's a recognition that there's more we can do to have justice flow more equitably. On Rosh Hashana morning especially, there's the tendency of this congregation to raise social consciousness."
Bet Shira, a Conservative congregation in Miami, has planned its first pre-Tashlich family service with story and songs for children. They'll then join others from the congregation at a nearby canal.
"You get a real sense of community, standing there on the grass with all your friends, and everyone's children," said Ronald Rosengarten, president of the congregation. "You have ducks and children running around. It's a Jewish experience of nature."
Traditionally, the bread is thrown into a natural body of water, such as a stream or river, rather than a pool or fountain.
"It's the idea that God's creation is that which absolves and forgives, along with God personally, the actions and mistakes we've made over the past year," said Rabbi Micah Caplan of Bet Shira.
Members of Nashuva, an unaffiliated congregation in Los Angeles, celebrate Tashlich at Venice Beach in a nontraditional service.
"Usually, the shofar is blown in the temple during Rosh Hashana, but we took the shofar-blowing to the beach," said Rabbi Naomi Levy. "We started a drumming circle at the beach.
At Nashuva, the whole theme of what we work on at the high holidays is about restoration and renewal, so Tashlich becomes this metaphor of letting go and embracing the new year with wholeness and a sense of rebirth."
Helene Rosenzweig of Santa Monica, who was raised as a Conservative Jew in New York, has attended the Nashuva service.
"My evolution of Tashlich is from this little kid, where we took baggies of Wonder Bread and sins like, 'I told a lie,' to thinking about things that weigh you down, that don't allow you to move forward emotionally or psychologically," she said. "The drums parallel the cathartic nature of the event."
As powerful as the ceremony feels, it's not a magical absolution, Rabbi Levy said.
"Judaism very much stresses the work we have to do," she said. "If you've hurt someone, it's your job to make it right with that person. The ceremony is ultimately liberating only if we've done the legwork to get to the place of true renewal."
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