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Compiled by Julie Wiener

Personal Reflections

Reaching Out To Fellow Jews

MICHAEL KELMENSON

Special to The Jewish News

g

osh Hashanah is a
holiday celebrating
the beginning of a
new Jewish year.
It is celebrated on the first
day of the Hebrew month
Tishrei. For Orthodox and
Conservative Jews, it's two days
and two nights long. For
Reform Jews, its one day and
one night long.
To me, Rosh Hashanah
means that we're starting all
over and we're making new
goals. It also means you get to
get together and pray with your
congregation. We also blow the
shofar because it reminds us of
the Sinai experience. At a time
when Jews are the closest to
God, this historical moment is
relived through the shofar ser-
vice.
I enjoy Rosh Hashanah because it's
fun to eat apples and honey, and I get
to blow the shofar. I also enjoy it

Michael Kelmenson attends Temple

Israel's religious school and is a fourth-
grader at Roosevelt Elementary School in
West Bloomfield.

RHONDA SPECTOR
Special to The Jewish News

because I get to see lots of friends that
I haven't seen for a long time.
This year I hope for my family to
get more involved with Rosh
Hashanah, meaning we will go to
more services, more dinners and more
family activities. I think Rosh
Hashanah is a wonderful holiday!

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any Jews look upon
Rosh Hashanah as the
annual time when one
must stand in shul for
long hours praying to God.
Often times we misunderstand the
true point of this holiday, and in
doing so, view it with restlessness.
Once yearly, God judges the actions
of His people Israel, determining
which persons will live and which

Celebrating
New Beginnings

BRIAN NEWMAN
Special to The Jewish News

E

very year, we as a Jewish community
celebrate the holiday Rosh Hashanah.
So what's the big deal about Rosh
Hashanah? What makes it a High

Holiday?
Rosh Hashanah gives us a starting point to
begin another year with new hopes, dreams and
experiences. It also gives us a chance to reflect
on the past year, to figure out what we did well
and what we did not do so well.
The central idea of this holiday is to give us
the hope to dream and to celebrate our chance
for a new beginning. A new beginning may be

Brian Newman, a native of Farmington Hills, is
a sophomore at Eastern Michigan University. He
hopes eventually to become a Reform rabbi.

10/3
1997

48

persons will cease to exist.
Our fates, however, are not actuall—'
"sealed" until Yom Kippur, the day of
repentance. This makes Rosh
Hashanah an ideal time to change
ourselves by doing Torah mitzvot
while highly increasing our chances of
entailing a contented year.
These exceedingly intense days of
davening give us a chance to strength-
en our relationship with the
Almighty. This alone, however, only
fulfills the man-to-God half of the
commandment, leaving out the indis-
pensable man-to-man component.
As Jews, we have an obligation to
reach out to fellow Jews in times of
need by donating time and charity. It
is said that you can only truly love the
Maker when you love His creation.
God wants us to emulate Him, and ier--/
doing so we must love His people as
He, Himself loves them: uncondition-
ally.
Rosh Hashanah is not a day wor-
thy of complaints but an opportunity –/
for changing the lives and well-being
of a nation. Have a wonderful Rosh
Hashanah and may your year be
sweet!

Rhonda Spector is ajunior at Berkley
High School and active in the National
Conference of Synagogue Youth.

as little as beginning a new hobby or as big as
starting a new job. Even a person who has just
retired and (as the joke goes) only has death to
look forward to has a chance for a new begin-
ning.
There are many people today who pursue
hobbies, life-long dreams and goals after the
age of 80. Now that people are living longer,
we see 89-year-old men waterskiing and 92-
year-old women running in 5K competitions.
The idea of this holiday is to remind us that
there still is a chance to begin the journey to
our dreams and goals. It also reminds us that
there is an end. Our existence on this earth is
seconds compared to some of the things on this
planet. There are trees still alive today that were
around hundreds of years ago. A human life
cycle is nothing compared to their life cycles.
We should use the time that God gives us
wisely and try to do everything we want to
before it's no longer possible.