SEPTEMBER 18, 1992
THE JEWISH NEWS
A Toast
To Jewish Living
00/ 14,,z
4ery When Actuality Gives Way To Possibility
By H. W. APPELMAN
As I began to think about High
Holiday preparations this year, I
turned to one of my children and
asked what we should have for
dinner. The reply stopped me cold.
"Ima, we always have the same
meal for the holidays. You haven't
changed it since I can remember."
I thought I was the queen of
nouvelle cuisine. I was absolutely
convinced that contemporary kosher
was my domain. The fact is that the
reply was absolutely accurate. The
menu hadn't changed in almost 19
years.
Preparation for the High
Holidays in our home starts with a
call to the butcher. From there, we
all go into automatic pilot. Everyone
has a role and the pre-holiday
preparations are as important to us
as the holiday itself. Further, not
varying too much from the routine is
important to us. It is this routine that
transforms our family and helps us
ease into the High Holiday season.
Aside from traditional foods and
butcher and bakery orders, the High
Holiday season provides many
opportunities for this transformation,
both on an individual and family
level. For instance, it is customary
to sound the shofar, each day
during the month of Elul (the
Hebrew month preceding Tishrei,
the month of Rosh Hashanah). The
shofar is sounded every morning,
excluding Sabbaths, immediately
after morning services. This is done
for the entire month of Elul with the
exception of the morning before
Rosh Hashanah.
A visit to the cemetery, a
powerful connection to the past, is
also customary before Rosh
Hashanah. It allows the family to
remember relatives no longer with
them, and hopefully, recall all of
those funny, poignant moments that
make family history so valuable.
Even if families are spread far
apart and cannot make the
Continued on Page L-2
Dr. Mark Lindy gets "hands-on" help from daughter Hannah in the making of a shofar for Rosh Hashanah.
Parents Must Transmit Love For Judaism
By BAYLA LANDSMAN
Come join me. Allow me to
introduce you to one of my friends
and we shall learn a very
penetrating lesson together.
Meet Naomi — she's bounding
past my front lawn on her way
home from school. With her small
hands she clutches a bulging
plastic bag dearly. An exhuberant
smile radiates from her face. "Hi!"
she calls. "I'm hurrying home!
Tonight is Tom Tov! I'm so excited."
As she whizzes past me, I eye
various holiday objects created from
plastics, colored papers, foil, and
milk cartons.
Inspired by this six year old's
passionate anticipation for the
holiday, I sense that there's more to
learn. I follow her home.
Naomi opens the door and a
mirror image of the child's radiant
smile greets her with great
enthusiasm. "Hi! Look what you
brought home for Yom Tov! I can't
wait until tonight! The holiday is
almost here!"
I turned and walked slowly
home, wiser for having observed
this mother and child.
As parents we effect the single
most important influence on our
children. Our home is their very first
school and we are their very first
teachers. It is our example, our
enthusiasm, our personal
commitment which become the very
nature of our children. When we
see our fulfillment of rituals as a
source of pleasure and delight, our
children feel pleasure in being
Jewish.
When we provide an
atmosphere replete with warm and
precious memories of the Jewish
way our children gain intense
feelings of belongingness to the
Jewish nation. When we experience
the uplifting and exhilarating
feelings which performance of
rituals and observance of holidays
inspire, our children are infused with
a sense of personal pride and a
sense of mission in life. When we
provide this atmosphere for spiritual
nourishment, then we have truly
given our children the greatest gift a
parent can pass on to a child.
To generate this excitement and
create this atmosphere, we as
parents must be excited on an adult
level. We must demonstrate that
study has no end. We must
continue to grow spiritually and
strive for a passionate commitment
to Jewish ideals.
Once we comprehend concepts
in a way that personally excites us,
Continued on Page L-4