THE JEWISH NEWS

A Toast
To Jewish Living

4

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_Ace Rosh Hashanah: Happy Birthday To The World

Rabbi Paul Yedwab is affiliated
with Temple Israel and the author of
this months's overview about Rosh
Hashanah. For each issue of
L'Chayim, a rabbi, a Jewish
educator or other notable from the
community will present an overview
of the month's theme.
Did you go the movies this
summer? I did, and I was amazed
by the number of movies in which
111) an older person miraculously
became young again (George
Burns, Dudley Moore), or a young
person, older (Tom Hanks).
As Jews, we too have a
miraculous way to become young
again and yet, at the same time, to
become older and more mature. Of
course, this does not happen as the
result of our interaction with a
magical arcade game, or even as
the result of a scientific experiment
gone awry. Rather, God has given
us a miraculous process. It is
known as repentance, and the
season of repentance, the High Holy
Days, is upon us. Rosh Hashanah,
of course, is the first of these High
Holy Days and, according to

ot

. . . it is on this, our
collective birthday, that
this miraculous process
of repentence begins in
earnest.

tradition, it was on Rosh Hashanah
that the world was created. Rosh
Hashanah then, is the Birthday of
the World, and it is on this, our
collective birthday, that this
miraculous process of repentence
begins in earnest. On Rosh
Hashanah, God, our Eternal Parent,
gives each of us a birthday gift to
mark the occasion of our collective
beginning.
Repentance, however, is not a
passive gift; it is an active one. We
must make active use of it in order

for it to be effective in our lives.
When we look into ourselves and
ask forgiveness for those things
which we have done wrong; when
we strive to undo the damage that
we have done to others; when we
turn to God in humility and say, "for
all the sins which I have committed
against you, Oh God, forgive me,
pardon me, grant me atonement";
when we do all of these things with
an open heart, God does make us
young again. We are forgiven. Our
souls become pure once again. We
are renewed.

At the same time, however, this
process can make us spiritually
older and more mature as well, for
as we look into ourselves and strive
to change we find that miraculous
growth will occur. We will suddenly
become wiser and more mature,
more sensitive to the needs of
others and more responsive to the
obligations of living in God's world.
Thus, on this, the birthday of the
world, God has given us a
miraculous gift. If we use it in our
lives it can make us young and pure
again. At the same time it can give
us a wisdom and maturity beyond
our years.
A good birthday gift, however, is
not one which we use only on the
day or week of our birthday and
then put in the closet for the rest of
the year. A good birthday gift is one
which we use throughout the year.
God's birthday gift of forgiveness
and change is such a gift; the
process of repentance is an ongoing
one.
Make this new year a year of
growth and of becoming young
again; make it a year of change and
introspection; make it a year of
rebirth in which you receive and
accept God's birthday gift of
repentance.
L'shanah Tovah Tikateivu. May
you be inscribed for blessing in the
Book of Life, and may you have a
happy, happy birthday.

Symbols of Rosh Hashanah, Judaism, by Ben Shahn.