One September a few years ago, one of our Chaverim School students asked me why we celebrate a New Year on January 1 with fun parties and why on Rosh Hashanah we sit endlessly praying in the synagogue.
I was tempted at the time to elevate the Jewish New Year’s practices over the frivolity of the secular year’s festivities. As I reflected on the serious side of that question, I realized that, in truth, both new years give us tools for putting the past behind us and starting anew. Whether marking the date in festive abandon or in quiet reflection, they each speak to the human need to create meaning.
The Mishna (our oldest authoritative rabbinic text) teaches that there are four kinds of New Years: in Nisan, the New Year marking the terms of kings (=Inauguration Day); in Elul, the New Year for tithes (=Tax Day); in Tishri, the New Year for counting years (=January 1), and the New Year for trees in Shvat (=Arbor Day).
On top of that, we celebrate every new moon with hope that the new month will bring us renewal. And every Shabbat ends with the intention to begin again.
In other words, the Jewish calendar presents multiple occasions for starting over. Whether we distinguish it with prayers in the sanctuary or with champagne and confetti, the counting only counts if we assign meaning to it. January 1 allows us to put 2020 behind us—if we take the time to assess what we have learned and what we have gained along with how we have suffered and what we have lost.
At times during this pandemic we each have experienced time as an endless flow of unchanging tedium as we wait for things to get better. However, I hope that we are also discovering the unique capacity to infuse our days with possibility, passion, and promise. We can still celebrate the birth of a child, a wedding or a b- mitzvah. We can look forward to Shabbat and to holidays despite how strange they may seem this year. We can look back on each day contemplatively recording our small triumphs and recounting our blessings, including the blessing of good health and of life itself. We can make each day count.
I take comfort in this poem by Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg from our Shabbat morning service:
Every day, Creation is renewed.
Wake up and see unfolding
In the spreading light of dawn,
The world and all it contains
Coming into being, new, fresh,
Filled with divine goodness
And love.
Every day, Creation is renewed.
Reflected in the great lights
We see a new day,
One precious day,
Eternity.
Happy New Year!
May this year bring us all closer together, gathering in good health and joyous song, laughter, and warm hugs.
Rabbi Barbara Penzner