The High Holy Days are a sacred time on the Jewish calendar for intense personal reflection and spiritual growth. Where are you? This year we must ask ourselves this question as we prepare ourselves both physically and mentally for the High Holy Days. To guide you, Hineni: Here I am, a weekly email series is designed to help make this time personally meaningful. Look for an email from Temple Sinai every Friday through October 9 with a video teaching from our clergy, a personal reflection from a Temple Sinai member, liturgical music, and High Holiday programming details. May this be a season of growth, renewal, and reflection for you. Shana Tovah!
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Hineni: Rosh Hashanah - September 18-20, 2020
Beginning A New Year
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Rabbi Sam Hollander:
Returning to Reach
our Full Potential
"This Rosh Hashanah, let us focus on our own potential. Teshuva, means to return.
It is our task to return to ourselves, not to try to be like anyone else, but to press that reset button and strive to live up to what is our full potential."
Rabbi Hollander shares some thoughts on standing before God on Rosh Hashanah.
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Cantor Saralee Shrell-Fox:
Connecting to this sacred time of year through the melodies
"The melodies that we sing in Shul for each holiday bring the mood of that holiday. These different melodies are called modes. I learned from my teacher, Cantor Jaclyn Chernet, that mode is mood.
Take a listen to get into the "mood" of Rosh Hashanah.
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Yom HaZikaron:
Pleasant Memories of Rosh Hashanah
Faith Rubin
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We have been taught that we need to give our children Roots and Wings. To those two suggestions I would add the idea of providing our children with Pleasant Memories, remembrances that could bring many smiles as the time rushes by.
At this High Holiday season, I tend to look back at the Pleasant Memories of my childhood, growing up in the 1940s and 50s in Dorchester, MA a suburb of Boston.
My mothers parents, Bobbe and Zaidie, lived upstairs while my fathers folks Grandma and Pa lived 2 miles away.
I knew it was almost Rosh Hashanah by the sight of silver being polished, by the sweet fragrance of taiglach and honey cake, and of the vision of grapes being cut from our backyard vines to make wine.
For me, the Holy Days begin when my father parks his car where it would remain as we walk the route to Bobbe and Zaidie’s Synagogue, the Nightingale Street Shul, Chai Odom-The Life of Man. During the course of services I would sit for a while with Bobbe upstairs in the women’s section then venture downstairs to visit Zaidie. He would wrap his giant Tallit around me, a very special memory.
Usually, on the second day, I walked across the field to sit with Grandpa and Grandma. They prayed separately, on the holidays as well as on Shabbat. Grandpa davened in a popular, traditional Shul that had a famous men’s choir. Grandma preferred the small liberal leaning synagogue where she could sit on the same level as the men but on a separate side.
In the afternoon I would take a “shpitzir” a leisurely walk to The Wall, a three foot wall surrounding Franklin Field, a walking area central to many synagogues. Very popular with teens, it was the place to sit or to walk around, to see and to be seen. Today many “reunions” are taking place through Facebook pages.
Life has changed now, families have changed. I know it can be complicated “to find the time” but I think it is essential and worth the effort to enjoy living in the present while creating wonderful Pleasant Memories for future generations.
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High Holy Days at Temple Sinai |
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Tools for Reflecting During the Season of Repentance |
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PJ Library High Holidays at Home guide
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10Q was inspired by the ten days of reflection that occur between the Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, a period of time that’s long been considered an opportunity to look at where you're at, where you've come from, and where you're heading. Sign up to answer one question a day. Next year, before Rosh Hashanah, you will receive an email with your responses. Reflect. React. Renew.
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