• Se The First Rosh Hashanah S By MARC GELLMAN When Adam was placed in the ' garden of Eden by God, he was amazed at everything. The smell of flowers made him dance. The sound of the birds made him sing for joy. But of all the things that amazed Adam, the most amazing to him was the sun. It warmed his face without touching him, and it was the only thing in the garden he could not reach. When the wonderful sun disappeared. behind the edge of the garden, Adam was really scared! He cried all night long, and he kept his eye on the exact spot where the sun had disappeared. After a long while, he felt something warm on his back. He turned around and saw the sun peeking over the other edge of the garden. Adam was happy but confused. . Then God explained to him how the time from one going down of the sun to another going down of the sun was one day; the time of seven days, one week; the time of four weeks, one month; and the time of twelve months, one year. Then God stopped telling Adam about time. Adam began to think. "God has told me that this day will be followed by six other days to make. one week, ana that this week will be followed by three others to make one month, and that this month will be followed by eleven others to make one year; but, what time will come after one year? Maybe ... no time! Maybe the sun will go down and never come up again?" Adam was still amazed at things, but now he was frightened and worried. He counted the days and the weeks and the months, waiting for one year. He counted and waited and worried. L-6 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1989 By the time the twelfth month came around, Adam was fidgety and nervous and could not sleep at night. "A year is the biggest time! When the year is used up all the Adam decided to remember the end of each year by apologizing to all the living things he may have hurt during that year He felt better doing it, and he remembered how scared he had been during that first year. time will be used up. The sun will go down and never come up. I will have to live in the cold and dark where I will not be able to see the flowers or hear the birds, and I will trip over things!" said Adam. On the evening of the last day of the week of the last month of the year, Adam did not sleep a wink. He went around the garden chewing his fingernails and saying goodbye to all the things in the garden. To each living thing Adam said, "I won't see you tomorrow. If I have hurt your feelings this year I am sorry. I hope you will forgive me. Then Adam would kiss the thing and move on around the garden. After a while, just after Adam had finished saying he was sorry to some bug, he felt something warm on his back. He whirled around and saw the sun peeping up over the edge of the garden again, just like every day of the old year. Then Adam heard God counting, "Ten years are one decade. Ten decades are one century. Ten centuries ..." By this time Adam had fallen asleep. He was amazed at the bigness of time. Time was even bigger than the sun. Adam decided to remember the end of each year by apologizing to all the living things he might have hurt during that year. He felt better doing it, and he remembered how scared he had been during that first year. When Adam awakened the next day, he smelled the flowers and heard the birds singing. Reprinted with permission of the author.