The Jewish New Year comes in the autumn, at a time when things are not new at all but old. Here in Northern California, everything is brown and dry from the drought. Around most of the United States. the trees are turning colors and dropping leaves. Everything is going dormant.
It’s a bit like a slow death. Nothing feels new.
My father died in the fall. I think about him at this time of the year, especially on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. He did right around this holiday.
The secular New Year falls in the middle of winter. It’s cold and grey and we are waiting for the spring to come, but we still have January and February to get through. Yet, the trees are beginning to move toward growth again.
So, how can I feel new, renewed? How can a turn toward a brand new year? How can I return to what is best in me and bring that forth into another twelve months.
The Jewish holidays actually force us into renewal. The holiday requires (if we observe it) us to take a day or two off and to begin thinking not only of the year ahead but the year past. We take time to renew, refresh, consider…what we were and what we want to become.
And we consider how we will be written into the Book of Life in the coming year–if we will be written in.We consider our lives and life.
I believe we have a choice beyond just repenting for sins–asking for forgiveness and righting wrongs. I think it’s this time we spend planning, deciding, and then taking action. But we have to take the time. The holidays give us the time. Nothing happens without preparation–emotional, spiritual, physical–and a goal. We also need a map to get us to our destination. The High Holidays give us the chance to do all this preparation–and to refresh, renew, return.
If you need help doing this, here are two books to support you during the next 10 days–or any time you want to take the time to go through this process. They provide inspiring reading to help you set new targets during the High Holy Days or to contemplate the 10 Days of Awe. They are also perfect if you simply would like to take the time to return to your best self and reset your goals–even if you don’t celebrate the Jewish New Year.
Get Ready, Aim, Shoot: Hit Your Bull’s Eye This Year
10 Days and 10 Days to Return to Your Best Self: A T’Shuvah Tool Bridging Religious Traditions
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