songbird's crazy world

(cross posted at Midcentury Modern Moms ) On Rosh Hashanah it is written, on Yom Kippur it is sealed. The High Holy Days are a period of introspection, of reflection and remembrance. Our tradition teaches that the Almighty writes each person's name in the Book of Life on Rosh Hashanah, and their fate is sealed on Yom Kippur. Who shall live and who shall die? One ceremony is called Tashlikh. We go to a body of water -- the sea, a river, a pond -- and cast bread upon the waters, symbolically casting our sins away. My synagogue is fortunate, our building is across the street from a small pond, so we always gather on the first day of Rosh Hashonah to perform this ceremony. My Aunt Bernice, who died last spring, loved to go with me to Tashlikh. So my thought this year was to have her in mind while performing the ritual, to think about her while reciting the prayers. Instead, I found myself looking at my neighbors' children, the kids who were laughing and giggling as ...

So last Tuesday....our Weight Watchers at Work Meeting begins at 1 PM, and we're encouraged to bring lunch with us. I usually eat lunch at noon, and by 12:15 I was STARVING! that was dangerous, since I hadn't brought my lunch and I can't think straight when I am that hungry. I held on, though, and got a salad for lunch in the take out place downstairs. How could I do otherwise, when everyone in our WW group would be watching what I had for lunch? good weigh-in, I lost 1.8 pounds! that ought to keep me going a bit longer. I anticipate that the biggest challenge of my week, of course, is Rosh Hashanah. All the traditional foods, all the special treats, so much temptation! the biggest challenge....well, except for lunch on Wednesday....kosher Middle Eastern place on ann Street...the best hummus and felafel in NYC. I would have been ok if I'd stayed away from the Moroccan cigars...ruined my whole day, and by the time I got to Open School night I was so hungry I ate t...

Tash⋅likh   /Seph. tɑʃˈlix; Ashk. ˈtɑʃlɪx/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [Seph. tahsh-leekh; Ashk. tahsh-likh] Show IPA Use tashlik in a Sentence See web results for tashlik See images of tashlik –noun Hebrew. a Jewish rite, performed on the afternoon usually of the first day of Rosh Hashanah, in which the participants symbolically cast off their sins by gathering along the banks of a river, stream, or the like and reciting prayers of repentance. Because yesterday, the first day of Rosh Hashanah, was also Shabbat, we performed Taslikh today instead. My congregation is very fortunate. Right across the street from the synagogue is a small park. From the street it looks like nothing, just a patch of woods. but if you follow the footpath into the woods you will find a real pond. Tashlikh must be performed at a "living" body of water. There are fish and frogs and turtles in this pond -- we saw turtles today -- so it meets the requirements. We parade up the street from the temple ...

Happy Rosh Hashanah to one and all. May you have a sweet new year.

You know how, as your birthday or the new year approaches, you tend to become introspective? you review the past year and make resolutions about the coming one. as a Jew, I celebrate the New Year twice -- a secular new year in January, and a religious new year at Rosh Hashanah. Unlike the secular new year, with its parties and fireworks and etc., the Jewish High Holy days focus on introspection, on self analysis, on prayer. I reflect on all the changes in my life since last Rosh Hashanah...and the changes to come in the new year. A baby bird has flown out of the nest and is on the road to discovering who she will be. Another baby bird is stretching her wings, preparing to fly. an old love has returned to my life. I can't wait to see what the new year birngs.