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| Apples and honey for a sweet new year! |
Last week was Rosh Hashanah, the celebration of the Jewish New Year. Although the holiday is a happy one, it begins the 10-day contemplation period that leads to Yom Kippur, also known as the day of atonement. It is during this time period that you are instructed to assess, focus on, contemplate and review the year as a whole and consider and acknowledge what you could have done differently. It ends with apologizing for the mistakes you have made.
As a child I remember sitting in temple for hours on end and listening to and chanting about how bad we were during the past year. I always thought, "I don't think I was that bad!" and I would look around at the others faces to see if I could tell if they were thinking the same. To be honest, I always felt a little offended. As an adult, I don't look at it as literally as through a child's eyes instead I focus on what I can personally improve in my everyday life. I take the time during services to try and become re-inspired to make the necessary changes and develop a plan of action.
Growing up Jewish, I remember watching people on T.V going into confessional. Voicing your guilt anonymously so you can wipe your hands clean and move on. What a great idea! I look at this time of the year as a self-confessional. Taking the time to review and acknowledge how the year went, decisions you made, behaviors you had, mindlessness habits you engaged in. These are all up for contemplation and a good start for considering what you want to be different in the year ahead.
Some things that came to my mind........
- Keep things in perspective. When I am having a hard day with the kids remembering how lucky we are that we have our health and each other.
- Save more time and energy for my husband who deserves my love more than anyone in this world and unfortunately who sometimes gets shuffled on my priority list.
- Discover something we can do as a family to give back to the community.
- Make sure I do something that brings me joy everyday so I can be balanced and at my best for the people I love.
We took my 4-year old to the children's service as he isn't capable of sitting for more than an hour. He was the most well behaved in the congregation only because he fell asleep a few minutes into the service. No indication of how good the services were, it was just that witching hour of 2:30 in the afternoon. Although he missed it, I shared this beautiful prayer we said together as parents and children with him when we got home:
Parents: Sometimes I do things you do not understand.
Children: Sometimes I do things you do not understand.
Parents: I will try to listen and not just lecture.
Children: I will try to listen more than I want to.
Parents: I hope you will tell me what you're feeling.
Children: I hope you will try to comprehend what I'm feeling.
Parents: But I can't always tell you what you want to hear.
Children: I will try to remember that you have my best interest in mind.
Parents: I will try not to scold you for small mistakes.
Children: I will try to be more responsible.
Parents: I will try not just to teach you but to let you learn for yourself.
Children: I will try to accept what you want to pass on, while I chart my own path.
Parents: I will force myself to let you stumble because failure is as valuable as success.
Children: I will try to remember that I can learn from failure as much as from success.
Parents: You are important to me and I will try to show you my love every day. I shall always try to make our time together meaningful.
Children: You are important to me, and I will search for even more ways to be closer to you and make more room for you in my life.
BOTH: May this new year be a year in which the hearts of parents will turn toward their children and hearts of children turn towards their parents.
Wishing you a happy, healthy and sweet new year :)
I almost cried when I read this, as a Parent and Grandparent. As my family knows the worlds of Parent's and Children have been such a fundamental and important part of my life,both personally and professionally .Similarly, so is my spiritual practice of Judaism. The Prayer was more than beautiful, so carefully crafted from both a Child;s and Parent's Perspective and from the the central. "Intention/Kavana" of this Jewish Holiday. The Hebrew word " chait" which is often translated as sin or transgression, it actually means "missing the mark," from the archer shooting the arrow and aiming a little bit wrong How wonderful to have a Holiday where you can think about where your arrow missed a bulls eye and know you can just pick up another arrow and do it again. To see some of this values passed on and added to in new ways gives me a wonderful feeling deep in my heart. You never know as a Parent what a child takes in, in what way and if it becomes important or serves them in later life. All we can do is what my daughter so lovingly knows, to keep loving them, to be tolerant of their "missing the mark" build wonderful self esteem, and give yourself that same understanding, patience, and the time you need to get your nourishment. I am so very proud of Rachel (did you know she is also a Gourmet Chef,I bet that doesn't surprise you!) I know we all say it, but I happen to have Fantastic Children, my Grandchildren, well what should a Bubby say. with love from Mom and Bubby
ReplyDeleteI knew you would enjoy this read :)
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