Rosh Hashanah - At the Head

The story is told about the Jewish mother who had just moved into a new apartment and called up her son to give him directions:

"When you get to Park Street you come into number 15. Use your elbow to press the buzzer for apartment D5. When I buzz you in, come in through the front door, use your elbow to summon the elevator, then press number 4 with your elbow. Take it to the fourth floor, press my doorbell with your elbow and I'll let you in…"

"Why on earth do I need to use my elbow?"

"Well you're not coming empty handed, surely?"

Rosh Hashanah means, literally, the head of the year. It is not called the start of the year, rather the 'head of the year'. As the saying goes, start as you mean to go on. Rosh Hashanah is not just another landmark in time. Rosh Hashanah is a time when the whole year ahead is laid out in front of us. The way in which we start out marks our chosen path until next Rosh Hashanah.

The mystical teachings explain that Rosh Hashana gives chayut (life) to the entire year. In the same way that each and every limb is connected to the head, specifically the brain, which then controls and gives life to each individual limb, Rosh Hashana is connected to the entire year ahead. Just as we would take extreme care when dealing with the brain or the head - neurosurgery is one of the most highly-qualified professions around - so we must take great care to utilize Rosh Hashana to launch the New Year in a positive manner, as we intend to go on. This then affects the entire year and puts us on track to continue in a similar vein. By using these precious moments over the coming weekend, we can map out our year ahead in Jewish terms.

This Rosh Hashana, many of us will be found in the synagogue, praying and wishing for good things in the coming year. Let's not come empty-handed! Let us use this opportunity to examine the previous year, to make a vessel through which to channel these blessings which we are seeking from G-d.

May each and every one of us, together with our families, be able to look back on the past year and to honestly say that we are not coming empty-handed, but that we have grown, and will continue to grow and to improve, in the coming year. Now is a time for good resolutions and sincere intentions.

May we all merit to be inscribed and sealed for a happy, healthy and sweet new year, together with our loved ones and may we merit a year of success, happiness, good health, prosperity and peace for all.

Shabbat Shalom