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topicnews · September 30, 2024

The Jewish New Year is unlike any other. Here’s why: Israeli culture

The Jewish New Year is unlike any other. Here’s why: Israeli culture

The best siman for Rosh Hashanah

The simanim are special dishes that are a central part of the Rosh Hashanah feast.

We dip an apple in honey and wish each other a good and sweet year. We also eat a pomegranate and pray that our merits will be as great as the seeds of this fruit.

Rabbi Yisrael Meir HaCohen of Radin, known as Chofetz Chaim, spoke about the most important siman – one that is important not just on Rosh Hashanah but throughout the year.

“We know that the symbolic foods we prepare for Rosh Hashanah have meaning and strength, and that is why we strive to eat sweets and bless and pray over these foods,” he said. “But if we are so particular in finding meaningful simanim, there is nothing better than a pleasant disposition, a smile and the patience we show to others. And there are no simanim worse than anger and stubbornness. Finally, our behavior also has influence and consequences, as it says in the Gemara: “Whoever shows compassion towards others will be granted compassion from heaven” (Shabbat 151b). On Rosh Hashanah, we must pay special attention to the symbols of affection, love and kindness.”

APPLES AND HONEY: The classic Rosh Hashanah combination. (Source: SUFECO/FLICKR)

Sound of the soul

While other nations celebrate the New Year with a lively party, we start the New Year very differently by spending a few minutes being quiet and just listening. Accordingly, the blessing we recite, “Baruch Ata…lishmo’a kol shofar,” reflects that we are participating in a mitzvah that is not about doing anything, but just listening.

The sound of the shofar commemorates important events in our history: the Akeidah, when a ram was sacrificed in place of Yitzchak; the blasts of the shofar heard during the giving of the Torah at Har Sinai; and the Yovel (Jubilee Year), when slaves were freed. It also reminds us of the future salvation that, according to the prophets, will be ushered in by the sound of the shofar.

We don’t speak, react or argue for several moments – we simply listen. We don’t jump in and express our opinion; We silence the noise of the hustle and bustle around us and within us and focus on a pure sound – the voice of the soul.

Which “Ruben” will you be?

What do you think about Rosh Hashanah? Rabbi Kalonymous Kalman Shapira, the Rebbe of Piaseczno, advises that instead of looking at the past year, we should look primarily at the coming year and think carefully about what we want from ourselves in every area of ​​life.

Rabbi Shapira was murdered during the Holocaust, but he left a valuable educational legacy: “If you want to serve Hashem and rise up and not be in the same place at seventy as you were at your bar mitzvah, then do it.” The following: Set a goal every year. For example, if your name is Ruben, imagine the Ruben you want to be in a year – his achievements, his work, his character traits and everything else about him. Compete with this imaginary Ruben all year round. This will help you see exactly where your deficiencies lie and what kind of work you need to do to become him. Strive for your daily service to God and personal refinement to be enough to achieve your goal of becoming the Reuben you want to be in a year.

Welcome home, bubbies

Yaakov Selavan is deputy chairman of the Golan Regional Council. He justified his decision to stay in the north during these tense weeks with the words: We have decided to stay and keep the country despite the difficult situation. And if anyone thinks we are crazy, they should know, and Hezbollah should also know, that despite the difficult year Israel has endured, another plane full of new immigrants landed at Ben-Gurion Airport last week.”

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Yaakov wrote that after years of reflection, many in the diaspora realized right now, in the midst of this hardship, that it was time to come home. Among those who came to the agreement were Yaakov’s grandmother, Jacqueline Yocheved Hirsch, 87, and her sister Marsha Rubkin, 89, both of Atlanta. Jacqueline will live in Jerusalem and Marsha will live in Rehovot.

“Most of Bubby and her sister’s grandchildren have lived in Israel for many years, and both have dozens of great-grandchildren here,” Yaakov continued. “We no longer have ‘Grandma from America’.

“This makes it clear to us that we should not take the fact that we are allowed to live here for granted and that, despite the challenges, there is no better place to live. While I was spending Shabbat here in the north, Bubby was at the Kotel where she heard the haftarah for the first time as an Israeli, a haftarah that speaks directly to her: “Lift up your eyes and see how they all gather together and come.” to you; Your sons will come from far away.’”



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