The Big Story

INTO THE DEPTHS

from page 145

Fill Your Home
With Joy

Family ideas for celebrating Rosh
Hashanah.

ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
AppleTree Editor

r

or adults, Rosh
Hashanah is a time for
thought, for reflection,
for serious introspection.
For children, it's fun.
There are fun rituals like dipping
apples in honey, fun opportunities
like staying home from school, fun
occasions like getting together with
family and friends for a yummy
meal. And, indeed, a little child's
life, as he or she prepares to look
forward to another year of growth
and learning, should be filled with
nothing but happiness. Here are a
few ideas to help you and your
family celebrate the holiday:

• Something Fishy: It's traditional
on Rosh Hashanah to place a fish
head on your table for the holiday
meals, to symbolize the head of the
new year. Your children likely will
revel in the oddity of this and love
every moment of saying "ooh" and
yuck" as they gaze at the bulging
fish eyes.
If you prefer to pass on the real
fish head, or simply want to con-
tinue the theme, consider asking
your children to make fish-head
place cards for family and guests,
design tiny fish heads to affix to
toothpicks (which can then deco-
rate sliced meats and vegetables at
the table), or even design cards
onto which they have written
happy holiday messages. (Send
these to relatives who have a sense
of humor.)

C C

• Lettuce Now Hear Some Bad Puns:
Some families enjoy coming up
with food puns (the worse, the bet-
ter) for their holiday table. For
example:
— a raisin for "May you have a
raise in salary this coming year."
— a beet for "May you never be

beaten on the golf course."
— a pear for "May you meet your
true love and be a perfect pair in
the coming year."
— crackers for "May your children-
parents not make you crackers."
Try coming up with some food
puns yourself, but don't tell any-
one.
Instead, just leave the food item
at the table and see if anyone can
guess what it represents.

• Remember The Time: Before the
holiday begins, make a family time
capsule. Have everyone put in an
item important to him or her (but
not so important that he/she
couldn't live without it), and ask
children questions like:
Where do you think we'll be at
this same time next year?
What do you hope will be your
biggest accomplishment in school
this year?
If you could have any gift in the
next year, what would it be and
why?
What physical changes do you
expect to make or see in yourself in
the coming year?
Save all your treasures and
answers in a time capsule to open
next year at Rosh Hashanah, or five
or 10 years from now.

• Funny Fruit: After you've enjoyed
your apples and honey the first
night, it's traditional to have a new
fruit, one that you haven't yet had
this season, on the holiday's second
night. Try to find a new fruit to
taste, and ask children to use their
imaginations and design a weird,
fun new fruit on their own.

• Up The Ladder: A number of

families have the Rosh Hashanah
tradition of enjoying a specially
shaped challah. Sometimes this is
round, to symbolize a crown,

FILL YOUR HOME to page 148

Shira Stoorman, right, of Huntington Woods blows bubbles while casting
away sins at last year's tashlich ceremony, hosted by metro Detroit's two
Reconstructionist congregations, at the Detroit Riven

then symbolically rid themselves of
these by throwing the bread into the
water. Usually, this is accompanied by
the recitation of certain verses, includ-
ing Micah 7:18-20, Psalms 118:5-9,33
and 130, and Isaiah 11:9.
The reason for including the tashlich
ceremony during Rosh Hashanah is
obvious: As one enters the new year, he
hopes to do so with a clean slate, and
with God forgiving the past sins for
which he has repented, and. which he
has tossed away, never to repeat.
Tashlich is not a widely observed hol-
iday custom (compared,' for example, to
dipping apples in honey, or dining on a
fish head), nor is it Halach. ah, Jewish
law
And while we do know the source of
the name of the ceremony (Micah 7:19
states: "You will all their sins into
the depths of the sea"), little is known
about the origin of tashlich.
Some scholars suggest that it is an
imitation of a pagan rite, while others
point out that fish, like God, never
close their eyes. Others note that fish
were among, the first of God's creations,
and so stood as witnesses to the begin-
ning of the world.
But the fish are, in fact, secondary If
you are interested in perforining a tash-
lich ceremony and no sea or fish-filled
running stream are around, you can
drop your bits of bread into a well filled
with water, as is usually done in Israel.
A few other customs associated with
tashlich:

• Some like to shake out their pockets
at the source of water, likely in reference
to a talmudic verse comparing clean
clothing to moral purity.
• Jews from Bulgaria perform this cer-
emony not on Rosh Hashanah, but on
Yom Kippur.
• Although..the fish may find the
bread quite enjoyable, this is not..the
purpose of the ceremony in any man-
ner. One is, in fact, forbidden l'rom pur-
posely feeding the fish during tashlich.
• Jews from Kurdistan often enter the
water while performing tashlich.
• Kabbalists usually add a few verses
from the Zobar, a book of Jewish mysti-
cism. compiled toward the end of the
13th century, during their reading of
psalms attashlich.
• While no one is certain how long
Ashkenazic Jews have practiced tashlich,
we know for a fact that it has'been a
custom since the 16th century in the
Sephardic community Among its advo-
cates likely was the Mystic Isaac Luria
(1534-1572).
A native of Eastern Europe, Luria
studied Halachah, then moved to a
small island off the Nile River, where he
spent seven isolated years studying the
Zoha;•. In his life, Luria attracted a great
deal Of attention for his mystical
ings; after his death, his reputation only
grew and his teachings inspired one of
the most infamous false messiahs in
Jewish history, the 17th century figure

Shabbetai Tzvi.

■

-