Happy Rash Hashana!

Last night at sunset, Rash Hashana began. It is also called the Feast of Trumpets!





















What is it?
Basically it is a huge harvest party that begins the "Days of Awe" (the holiest holidays in the Jewish faith). It begins with a celebration of the harvest and all that has been good and sweet in the year. Then it sets you on a journey of reflection and prayer so that you may evaluate your life to set the new year off well with God's wisdom and blessing.


The details?

Apples and Honey: The apples represent the easy blessings...the ones that we didn't have to work for. These are the blessings in our lives that God gives us simply out of love... our families, our daily joys, the things we laugh at, the things that others have blessed us with gracefully without demanding anything back. The honey represents the blessings that were harder to gain...the trials, the conflicts, the things that didn't come easy. However, we taste the honey to acknowledge that these too are blessings brought from God, even when they didn't come easy.

Journal 14: What are your apples and honey this year? 



The Shofar Blast: This is a tradition that goes way back into Jewish history. It was used as a call during coronation ceremonies and and is always blown to declare that Ywh is King. It was also used to declare a coming blessing that was promised...even in battle. The Shofar is blown in this feast to call out that the year will be blessed by God. It is also a call to individuals that they must begin the evaluation of their own lives in order to keep God's blessing.





The Water Walk: Although it is not in the Bible, this is a common symbolic tradition. At some point during the ten days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kipur, when people have been praying about their lives and the next year, folks will take a walk with bread or sometimes rocks in their pockets. The idea is that you are praying that the Lord will show you what changes you may need to make in your life to make it even sweeter in the next year. Along with the harvest metaphor, our lives are much like a field that needs to sometimes go fallow or be plowed depending on the year before. As we pray, we ask God to reveal his wisdom in our lives. During the walk, we throw the bread or rocks in the water to represent the things we need to "cast off" of our lives in order to gain a sweeter year.



L'shanah tovah! (To a happy year!)