Brisket and Blessings

For as long as I can remember, on the first night of Tishri, the seventh month on the Hebrew calendar, Muri has made brisket for dinner.    It is a traditional meal for the first night of Rosh Hashanah, commonly known as the Jewish New Year.   Many of Muri’s traditions have become mine over the years, but brisket isn’t one of them.   Rosh Hashanah certainly has.  The notion of a spiritual holiday that is dedicated to introspection rather than gifts and miracles has always appealed to me philosophically.  Rosh Hashanah begins the holiest of days in Judaism, the so called Days of Awe, which end ten days later with Yom Kippur.  In Jewish tradition, God writes our names in the Book of Life on Rosh Hashanah, which determines who will live and who will die, who will have a good life and who will have a bad life, for the next year.  Actions we take during the Days of Awe, specifically repentance, prayer and good deeds, can alter God’s written decree, which is why Jews greet each other with the the traditional Rosh Hashanah blessing, L’shanah tovah tikatev v’taihatem meaning, May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.   I don’t picture God writing in books or deciding whether I’ll have a good year based on what I do during a single week in Tishri.   But I do believe that God has a purpose for each of us and that to find that purpose it is necessary to stop periodically to consider our lives.

So today, Muri and I will be in the park reading from the machzor, a special prayerbook used for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.  We’ll both think about the year just passed and our part in it.  We’ll walk to the edge of the lake and cast stones symbolizing our sins into the glassy water.  And we’ll start another year together, wishing each other L’Shannah Tovah, hoping the next year is better than it appears it will be right now.

I’d like to wish you all L’Shannah Tovah, too, and thank you for stopping by Older Eyes – Bud’s Blog.

One Word

A few weeks ago, my grandson, Maddux, came home from kindergarten with an interesting homework assignment.   When I was a kid, kindergarten was coloring and blocks and maybe a little clay.  Maddux’s homework was to describe each member in his family with One Word.  Since Maddux didn’t completely understand the task at hand, the whole family, starting with the parents. took turns picking out words for each other.  Given the situation, I don’t suppose anyone could give their choices much thought … something fast and complimentary probably sufficed. But of course, sitting around with nothing to do during my posting break, it occurred to me that if you do stop to think, it is a very difficult task.   I mean  you have scan through hundreds of good points and (if you loved one is going to hear your One Word) ignore the several warts that drift by, too.  Then when you’re done, you realize the words you pick to describe your family say as much about you as it does about them.