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HELPING JEWISH FAMILIES GROW"'

More Inside:

From The Editor:
When parents speak,
children listen.

Celebrate:
Finding the perfect
siddur for you.

You Did It!
Fun family projects for the holidays.

Elizabeth Applebaum
Special to The Jewish News

0

n the first day of Rosh Hashanah, it's not
uncommon to see Jews tossing little bits of
paper into lakes or rivers. These scraps float
for a moment, then become soft in the water, finally sink-
ing down to the dark bottom.
It is the water itself that brings the papers down,
though the words contained on each are like stones in
the heart of the writer. The messages are confes-
sions, and the ceremony is called tashlich.
Though no mention of the tradition is made
in the Talmud, tashlich has become for
some an important way to confess their
sins just as the new year begins and as
Yom Kippur waits just days ahead. Why
this is done at running water is likely the
result of a verse in Micah 7:19, which
speaks of "casting tashlich — sins —
into the depths of the sea." Later schol-
ars also liked to note that the confes-
sions of wrongdoing could be seen only by the fish
who, like God, have eyes that never close.
At Sukkot, we build and decorate sukkahs. Before
Pesach we clean, buy matzoh, clean, buy more matzah
and yes, clean. At Purim we wear costumes and scream

at the name of Haman. At Shavuot we celebrate with
homemade Torah scrolls and cheesecake. What, then,
are the specific traditions for one of the most important
of all Jewish holidays, Rosh Hashanah (which this year
begins at sundown, Sept. 20)?

An Apple A Day ...

The most popular is, of course, dipping
apples in honey. Here's the story behind this
delicious activity:
The honey is all about sweetness, of
course. The apple was selected because
of its abundance throughout the ancient
land of Israel. The Torah, the Talmud,
rabbinic and kabbalistic literature all
mention — and praise — the apple,
an honor accorded no other fruit.
When the apple is dipped in the
honey, this pronouncement is recit-
ed, "May it be Thy will, 0 Lord, our
God and God of our fathers, to
renew unto us a good and sweet year."

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