We are at the end of the month of Elul, a few days before we enter the year of the 20th century, and without a doubt we feel the excitement in the air. It is not just the autumnal weather that takes its place after the humid and heavy summer, but something much more internal and real.
Children eat an apple in honey for Rosh Hashanah (archive photo), photo: Gideon Markovich
One of the interesting points at this time of the year is that the name of the month that seals the Jewish year and the last one in the calendar - Elul, begins with the letter A.
And the name of the first month in the Jewish calendar - Tishri, begins with the last letter of the Jewish alphabet, with the letter T.
Apparently, this was supposed to be exactly the opposite, that the first month of the year - Tishri would begin with the first letter, while the last month of the year would begin with the last letter.
Caramelized apple tart, Tati, photo: Daniel Lila
Another point that is interesting to observe is the fact that our real lives are linear - a direct and continuous line.
We grow year by year, the children become fathers and the fathers become grandfathers and so on.
And the word Shana is from the old language - something that repeats itself over and over again.
As well as the word holiday, which is from the language of a dial, an event that repeats itself in rotation like a dial.
Why, then, even though our lives are a straight line with a beginning and an end, do we treat a year as a circle that has no end and no beginning?
And in general, why do we attach such great importance to the beginning, to the originality?
But there really is something special about beginnings and renewal.
The eldest child born in the family will always symbolize the transition from a relationship to a family and parenthood.
Even a new garment excites us the first time we wear it.
We all know the sound of opening a gift or a new product that has just been released to the world from the plastic and cellophane that wrapped and hid it.
Beginnings and renewal do us good.
That's why the end of the year and the beginning of the year are intertwined not for nothing.
Because the end is really the beginning of something else, and the beginnings excite us.
They are exciting because they bring with them new lines of strength that can meet any challenge, disappearing abilities that are hidden within us and are revealed in the moments of truth, and above all, grow hope that it is possible otherwise.
that even the path of a difficult year can be diverted and illuminated in a completely new and different light.
And we have all gone through two difficult years in the shadow of the corona epidemic, which unfortunately claimed many victims and changed world orders, and here we stand at the beginning of a new year full of hopes and prayers, that the next year will be better and sweeter than the previous one.
May we first and foremost be blessed with good health, and on a more individual level - may we be blessed to implement our ambitions out of joy and vitality, and above all, may we see the goodness within ourselves and others and embrace it.
That we know the content and the reason for the situations we are in, and that we act according to the correct and proper codes for the Jews, the sons of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the fathers of the nation.
And the main thing is that we know that we have the strength for this, because this is what the new year brings in its wings - an opportunity that repeats itself every year, to correct the past and beautify the future.
good luck to us.
Good writing and signing, a happy and sweet New Year to all the House of Israel.
A year of peace and security, a year of prosperity and success, a year of redemption and salvation - private and general.
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