Coronation Day

"May the New Year
bring to all our
Family, Friends,
and
Patients — Health,
Happiness, Prosperity
and everything
good in life!"

Your handy-dandy guide to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur at a glance. Read
it while standing in line at the supermarket, plopped in your living chair or in
services themselves.

DAVID HOLZEL SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

Hold that date

Rosh Hashanah generally is
celebrated as a two-day festival.
It begins at sundown Sunday,
Sept. 24. Yom Kippur lasts 25
hours beginning at sundown
Tuesday, Oct. 3.

Holiday fever

Dr. Barry and Lesley Feldman
Dustin and Lindsey
and Staff:
Laurie, Linda, May
Nettie, Rita, Sue
Tracey and Yvonne

The month of Tishrei contains
the most holidays of any Jewish
month: Rosh Hashanah on the
1st; Yom Kippur on the 10th;
Sukkot on the 15th (Oct. 8 at sun-
down); Shemini Atzeret on the
22nd (Oct. 15 at sundown) and
Simchat Torah on the 23rd (Oct.
16 at sundown).

Days of awe

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The Rosh Hashanah-Yom Kip-
pur period is known as the days
of awe because it is the annual
time of judgment.
"On Rosh Hashanah it is writ-
ten and on Yom Kippur it is
sealed: Who shall live and who
shall die ... Who by fire and who
by water ..." declares one poem
during the service. "But repen-
tance, prayer and righteous giv-
ing can cross out the severe
decree." Awesome.

New year in the 7th
month?

The basis for Rosh
Hashanah is given in
Leviticus 23:23-25: "In
the seventh month, in
the first day of the
month, there shall be a
solemn rest for you, a sa-
cred convocation commemorated
with the blast of the ram's horn
(shofar). Note that Rosh
Hashanah (literally "head of the
year") is not mentioned by name.

Righteous giving

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Rabbi Jacob ben Moses ha-
Levi (14th-15th century) ex-
pounded: Whosoever gives
charity to the poor on Rosh
Hashanah, let him give it with a
liberal eye, as it is said, "... nor
shut thy hand from thy needy
brother; but thou shalt surely
open thy hand unto him."
(Days of Awe by S.Y. Agnon)

Three themes of Rosh
Hashanah

Malchuyot (Kingship)
Rosh Hashanah is the day in
which God is crowned king. In
prayers, God is referred to as
king. In the prayer "Avinu
Malkeinu" (Our parent, our ruler)

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with gentle righteousness and
with lovingkindness — so as to
save us."
Shofarot
The shofar is the special sym-
bol of Rosh Hashanah. It's sound-
ing fulfills the commandment in
Leviticus. It also acts as an alarm:
"Awake from your slumbers.

tichateimu — "May you be sealed

for a good year."
The reason? Wishing that
someone be written into the book
of life after Rosh Hashanah im-
plies that you doubt he or she is
sufficiently good to be inscribed
there automatically. Better to
give them the benefit of the
doubt.

Family stories

Look to your souls, and better
your ways and actions." The sho-
far blast also sounds the end of
Yom Kippur.
Zichronot (Remembering)
Tradition holds that between
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kip-
pur, God determines who will be
sealed in the book of life. Rosh
Hashanah prayers try to jog
God's memory in our favor. They
remind God about his covenant
with Abraham, Issac and Jacob,
and ask God for the sake of these
righteous ancestors to be merci-
ful in judging us.
Then this paradox:
"For you remember all
the forgotten things, and
there is no forgetting be-
fore your throne of hon-
or. "

Greetings

The distinctive greet-
ing until the end of Rosh
Hashanah is: L'shanah
tovah tikateivu v'tichateimu —
"May you be written and sealed
for a good year.
After the holiday, the greeting
is shortened to L'shanah tovah

On Rosh Hashanah, we read
about the mixed blessings of
Abraham's family:
* Genesis chapter 21 tells of re-
lations between members of the
patriarch's complicated blended
family: his wives Sarah and Ha-
gar, and their sons Yitzhak and
Ishmael.
* Genesis chapter 22 deals with
the disturbing incident of the
binding of Yitzhak.

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A sweet year

It is customary to dip challah
in honey when making the bless-
ing over bread. This is followed
by dipping apples in honey to
make the blessing over fruit,
adding: "May it be your will, our
God and God of our ancestors, to
renew us for a good, sweet year."

At the waters' edge

"And you will cast their sins
into the depths of the sea," the
prophet Michah said. From this
verse came the custom of tash-
lich, or casting.
For centuries, Jews gathered
at a body of free-flowing water on
Rosh Hashanah afternoon to
symbolically cast away their sins
by emptying their pockets of lint
or bread crumbs.

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