What Feels Different About Rosh Hashana This Year

What feels different about Rosh Hashana this year?

Rosh Hashanah has always been a very special time of year for me, my soul my being.

I would prepare with excitement a readiness for self -reflection.

I looked forward to spending time with my spiritual home in NYC Romemu synagogue.

Where spiritual, musical and soul nurturing services would wrap their arms around me.

However, there is a different energy in the realm of Rosh Hashana.

So, what feels different about Rosh Hashana this year?

Perhaps, it is the fear and uneasiness about the future of my home, Israel.

I stayed home to listen to the debates in the Israeli Supreme Court .

Instead of my usual pre-holiday food shopping.

I stayed home to listen to the debates in the Israeli Supreme Court .

Days before the start of the Jewish New Year, I would have been busy cooking with a sense of joyous introspection.

Yet, I found myself glued to Israeli media.

All 15 Supreme Court justices, for the first time in Israel’s history, were at this hearing.

Listening to  petitions challenging P.M. Bibi Netanyahu’s  right wing extremist  governments’ Judicial Overhaul.

Rosh Hashana feels different this year.

How could I let these religious fanatics take my faith and spirituality away?

I sat to write a list of groceries while painfully hearing statements trying to steal Israel’s democracy.

Just as I was about to start writing, I felt a tear run down my cheek.

Sadness took over my moment.

Then came a surge of defiance, like a furious wave.

How could I let these religious fanatics take my faith and spirituality away?

Rosh Hashana was my holiday, my spiritual check-in.

Photo-Megs harrison

I will do the work, gaze deeply into the waters of my soul.

What feels different about Rosh Hashana this year?

It is not the same as years in the past.

The soul work and Tikkun Olam(repair the world) we must do for this world and Israel is enormous.

The layers of a broken Israel sit heavily on my soul.

However, faith and spirituality cannot be taken unless I let them go.

The Jewish New year is filled with opportunities for spiritual growth.

I will do the work, gaze deeply into the waters of my soul.

With hope I will come out empowered to take on the challenges that await me.

As an activist, Jew and an Israeli American, I know there will be many.

This year Rosh Hashana is different.

This year Rosh Hashana is different.

In Israel we are facing challenges like never before.

Fear and worry will be present at holiday dinners.

However, so will the pride and courage of hundreds of thousands of  Israeli protesters.

That have taken to the streets every week since January 2023.

Fighting for democracy and justice for all who dwell in Israel.

Rosh Hashanah teaches us that we have the power to renew our lives.

My chicken soup is made.

All the ingredients for a meaningful and peaceful New Year will be incorporated in each dish.

Rosh Hashanah teaches us that we have the power to renew our lives.

Revitalize and create a better world.

Although, the holiday this year is filled with complications and hardships, hope lives on.

May the sound of the Shofar be a reminder of the sacredness of joy and compassion.

A Heart’s Landscape-a book with messages of healing, joy and compassion.