Thank you, Aish NY

I had been a member of a local shul for three years until it went extremely progressive. The shul was within walking distance from my home; in fact, it was a very treasured walkable distance, which made attendance a delight, even though some erev shabbat discussions on whether God existed or how as a congregation we could promote homosexual unions in Judaism, were not so. The liberal congregation was more intent on how we could increase our rapport with local Muslims than they were committed to acknowledging the legitimacy of the sovereign nation of Israel, or helping victims of Muslim terror. Clearly, I wanted more out of my shul. I wanted a rabbi who believed in HaShem and who would masterfully transfer his faith to his congregation, I wanted to belong to a congregation whose members believed in HaShem, and most of all, I wanted tradition, not reformation. So I abandoned my little shul and my dream of being a member of a congregation in this little corner of town. It hurt.

Then two years ago I discovered www.nomembershiprequired.com, a site dedicated to identifying High Holiday services in over 50 cities nationwide, where if you are not a member, it's not a problem. I entered my geography and - bingo - I discovered an Aish shul, and for the past three High Holidays, I have been able to participate in services in an Orthodox shul, where the men sit apart from the women, and where I have been able to be a member of a faithful Orthodox community. The only problem is that I can't walk there for weekly services. I'll figure something out.

With this post, I wish to declare my deepest appreciation to the Rabbis at Aish NY for their dedicated leadership to their congregation, for their moving and pious attention to each word in the Machzor, and for their inspired discussions on HaShem, atonement, forgiveness, rebirth, mercy, and Jerusalem. May HaShem Bless each of you and your families with good health, prosperity and joy in the New Year.

Video: Shofar, so good

I received this by email. Turn on your speakers and watch this short, funny clip.

L'shanah Tovah

This post was moved to SmoothStoneBlog

The Timing of the Day of Judgment

Via JewishAnswers.org:

Why is Rosh HaShanah before Yom Kippur if on Yom Kippur we repent for last year’s sins… shouldn’t we do it before the New Year starts?

Thank you for your insightful question. I would take this question even further and ask why should Rosh Hashana, the ‘Day of Judgment’ – judgment on the deeds of the past year – occur on the first day of the new year, rather than on the last day of the past year.

The answer lies in the way Judaism views the concept of Judgment. Judgment is much more than simply determining how much punishment or reward a person deserves in this world and the next. According to the Talmud, all of a person’s sustenance for the coming year is determined on Rosh Hashana – it is a judgment in the sense of taking account of all the factors in a person’s life and then ‘judging’ what he requires for the year, a complete assignment of one’s potential. In other words, it is the renewal of the year itself which triggers a period of stocktaking during which G-d reevaluates the present state of the world, and makes a judgment as to what is required for the coming year. Yom Kippur is simply part of this period of judgment and renewal and thus occurs after the new year has begun.

Preparing both heart and mind for Rosh Hashana

Jewish World Review is inaugurating its short daily Godcast, JWisdom and has enlisted captivating orators from around the world. They'll guide listeners in applying Judeo values to contemporary living with the goal of making you a more fulfilled person. (You certainly don't have to be Jewish to gain from these lessons.)

Yesterday's program -- http://jewishworldreview.com/jwisdom/aaron.php3-- marks the return of one of JWR's most popular teachers, Rabbi David Aaron of Jerusalem.

Today's JWisdom segment, delivered by an engaging and entertaining speaker, offers some time-tested techniques with some secrets to being serene. Point your browser to http://jewishworldreview.com/jwisdom/rietti.php3 --- and please give JWR feedback here.

Honest introspection is like the stock market

Watching how G-d loves me each day and how He interacts with me each day is like watching my ranking in Technorati go up and down. One day I'm doing great and the next day, well, not so good.

In the month of Elul we are taught that this is the time to prepare ourselves for the upcoming holiest days in the Jewish calendar. Our sages teach us that Teshuva, Tefila, and Tzedaka (Repentance, Prayer, and Charity) can reverse the heavenly decree.

Each of us, no matter what our level of observance is, no matter how far away we feel we are from Our Father in Heaven, no matter what grieving, pain and shame we have garnered from our mistakes, each one of us has the power to embrace G-d and become closer to Him. This is what we are taught.

We are also taught that we must live each day ever mindful that we are - do - exist - live - always in the presence of G-d. This is Elul, we are just past Rosh Chodesh, one month before Rosh Hashanah. Three books are being opened, one for the righteous people, one book for evil people, and one book for the rest of us, the mediocre people.

It's true that G-d uses a measure for measure interaction in our lives but if a person is a righteous person and knows he lives a spiritual life and knows that he lives in the presence of G-d then usually God prepares that person in this life with a court of merit. If someone does something bad or good, G-d should make you feel that pain or that happiness in this world. However most of us live in a materialistic world and G-d cannot pay us in a spiritual currency. We will pay for a spiritual suffering up there if we are not righteous. This is what we are taught.

Elul is an abbreviation of Ani l'dodi v'dodi li. I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine. My husband and I spoke these words to each other at our wedding ceremony.

HaShem is our Beloved. Our Beloved is ours. May we all feel throughout the month of Elul and the coming year that He is our Beloved and that we are beloved by Him. We are taught that that is what His will is.

My prayer is may it ever be His will, and may it ever be my will to be His beloved. There is no greater love.

Amen.

President Bush's Rosh Hashanah message

Presidential Message: Rosh Hashanah, 5767

I send greetings to those around the world celebrating Rosh Hashanah.

During these holy days, Jewish people begin the new year by answering the call of the Shofar and gathering in synagogues. It is a time to reflect on the past, celebrate the beginning of life, and welcome the promise of the future with a spirit of renewal and hope.

On this sacred holiday, I appreciate the Jewish people for your efforts to ensure that your values and traditions are passed on to future generations. As you begin the Days of Awe, your faith in the Almighty reminds us of the gift of religious freedom in our country and helps make the world a more hopeful place.

Laura and I send our best wishes for a peaceful Rosh Hashanah.

GEORGE W. BUSH

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/09/20060921.html

L'shana Tova -- Ketivah vi-chatima Tova

Folks, I'm excited because Rosh Hashana begins today at sundown. Rosh Hashana is the Jewish New Year. The Jewish New Year is celebrated by reflecting upon the past, correcting one's mistakes, planning for the future, praying for a healthy and sweet year and celebrating with holiday meals.

Rabbi Nachum Braverman teaches us that "On Rosh Hashana we make an accounting of our year and we pray repeatedly for life. How do we justify another year of life? What did we do with the last year? Has it been a time of growth, of insight and of caring for others? Did we make use of our time, or did we squander it? Has it truly been a year of life, or merely one of mindless activity? This is the time for evaluation and rededication. The Jewish process is called 'teshuva,' coming home - recognizing our mistakes between ourselves and God as well as between ourselves and our fellow man and then correcting them.

Here are some questions to think about on Rosh Hashana, consolidated by Rabbi Kalman Packouz:

1. When do I most feel that my life is meaningful?
2. How often do I express my feelings to those who mean the most to me?
3. Are there any ideals I would be willing to die for?
4. If I could live my life over, would I change anything?
5. What would bring me more happiness than anything else in the world?
6. What are my three most significant achievements since last Rosh Hashana?
7. What are the three biggest mistakes I've made since last Rosh Hashana?
8. What project or goal, if left undone, will I most regret next Rosh Hashana?
9. If I knew I couldn't fail, what would I undertake to accomplish in my life?
10. What are my three major goals in life? What am I doing to achieve them? What practical steps can I take in the next two months toward these goals?
11. If I could give my children only three pieces of advice, what would they be?
12. What is the most important decision I need to make this year?
13. What important decision did I avoid making last year?
14. What did I do last year that gave me the strongest feeling of self-respect?
15. When do I feel closest to God?
16. Do I have a vision of where I want to be one, three and five years from now?
17. What are the most important relationships in my life? Over the last year did those relationships become closer and deeper or was there a sense of stagnation and drifting? What can I do to nurture those relationships this year?
18. If I could change only one thing about myself, what would that be?
19. If I could change one thing about my spiritual life, what would it be?

"L'shana Tova -- Ketivah vi-chatima Tova." This means "For a good year -- You should be written and sealed in the good (Book of Life)."

I wish to all of my readers L'shana Tova.

To American Jews Everywhere

Folks, I take no credit for writing the following article, although I wish I had written it, because it is exactly how I feel about Jews who wish they weren't Jewish. Like some pathetic Jewish Dems in New Jersey, and like some ambivalent Jewish lefties in California, and like those slimy Progressive and Reform Jews at my synagogue in New York.

You all disgust me.

Folks, if you're Jewish, wake up and thank G-d for your history. Appreciate the gift that HaShem gave you: being BORN A JEW! What greater gift is there? Really, folks, do you go to bed at nite and pray "Oh dear God, please make me a Muslim when I wake up"?! No, that's what I thought. Yet you go through your life, and feign being Jewish twice a year on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The other days of the year, like on Shabbos, you eat Chinese Food and Wanton Soup with pork, and bacon chips on top of your salad, and you feel badly for those killed by the tsunami and donate money to the UN, yet when Jews get blown up by parasitic and barbaric palestinian Arabs in Israel, you hesitate to donate money to Magen David Adom; you'd rather buy theater tickets with that money and see a Broadway show. You spend thousands and thousands on your kid's Bar Mitzvahs but you know more about Yoga than you do about Judaism. I am surrounded by your type in this liberal Blue state in which I live.

So, I dedicate this delicious article to you liberal Jews who are embarassed to be Jewish, who are ashamed of our Psalms, who criticize God who did indeed instruct us to kill our enemies.

Read this article, self-hating Jews, read this and then look at yourselves in the mirror.

=====

"Let's be brutally blunt: for the overwhelming majority of this generation's Jews, Judaism is pathetic -- and that's putting it mildly. It's been made as appetizing as four-month old matzah. Except unleavened crackers don't leave a bitter aftertaste, nor, for that matter, a hangover.

To be Jewish in America during the second half of the 20th century has largely meant to subscribe to the dogma of darkness, a siege mentality whose raison d'etre is defined not by classic Judaism's celebration of life, but rather by the Holocaust, the neurotic notion that anti-Semites lurk behind every corner, and, of course, the belief that if Jewry lets down its guard for even a split second, then "they" will inevitably get "us."

And if the Holocaust no longer stirs the breast, then panic over intermarriage rates may be substituted, with concomitant guilt for one and all. Without some spirit of anxiety, some specter of doom, nothing seems to animate the Judaism of many, if not most, American Jews; so we shuffle into indifference.

The world may indeed be a stage, but Gen-X Jewry, in case the Jewish establishment's would-be visionaries haven't yet noticed, aren't characters in a Seinfeld script or some angst-ridden Woody Allen flick. Hardly.

For most of us, formal Jewish contact began with having to endure what seemed to be, at the time, endless years of afternoon Hebrew school. Neither the instructors -- who usually took the job only to supplement their income and made that abundantly clear by their boundless enthusiasm -- nor their students -- who had already sat through a full-day of public school -- had any real interest in being there. It went steadily downhill from there, especially after the bar/bat mitzvah checks were securely stashed in the bank.

Indeed, if the Incredible Shrinking People continue to, well, shrink, the blame shouldn't be placed on Jewry's youth. Oh no. Even the young, with their digestive systems in tip-top shape, can only consume so much Sour Pickle Judaism before being overcome with nausea or ennui.

It's time for change. And by that, we don't mean that the UJA should merely begin spending more of its resources on swelling the number of teens it sends to Israel, either.

With this inaugural issue of JWR, we're firing our modest first salvo in a war to change the way contemporary Jewry views itself. When he stated "An educated consumer is the best customer," Sy Syms, the clothier, had it right. For if contemporary Jews are going to get something positive out of their Judaism in a society in which (lip service to diversity aside) the lure of conformity is strong indeed, then it is of the utmost importance that those pondering breaking their link in the golden chain to Sinai understand that the heirloom entrusted to them for safekeeping is the real thing, not merely some trinket. And to pawn it for a few measly pennies is, as the saying goes, pound foolish.

Obviously, if you're here, you've taken the first step in acknowledging the centrality of your Jewishness. You might have stopped to reflect and have concluded that like most Jews of this generation, you have matured intellectually in secular areas, but with college or career taking up so much time, the same has not been true Jewishly. And now you want to change that. We're here for you.

Just so there shouldn't be any misunderstandings, let us state clearly what not to expect from JWR. We have no intention of being preachy or partisan. And every subject, public or private, is in bounds.

Every two weeks, we'll be running thought-provoking articles -- some that you'll love, some that will get you burning mad -- on everything Jewish: culture, custom, and history, along with some great short stories and commentary on politics, geopolitics, and society, all of it directly or indirectly Jewish.

We have every intention of living up to our name. For the Jewish world, after all, is very much a vital and vibrant place, despite what the prophets of gloom would have you believe. Jewishness is more than an ethnicity. It's a lifestyle and a worldview. And it's yours. Let's make something of it together!"

Written by Binyamin L. Jolkovsky, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of JewishWorldReview, in his Welcome message on the launch of the JewishWorldReview website.

Happy New Year!

For some Jews, the idea of celebrating New Year's on December 31 makes them feel uncomfortable. They see the holiday as part of secular tradition and therefore not "Jewish." Some choose not to participate because they see it as a betrayal of Jewish tradition.

Why is commemorating an American custom viewed so suspiciously? Are we afraid that it will somehow make Jewish traditions seem less compelling, or are we so obsessed with our own uniqueness that we fail to see our connection to the wider world?

If our purpose is just to be different, then it's not worth it.

In Jewish life every day, every week, and at many other times, we are given the chance to begin again. To integrate another celebration is very much in keeping with our tradition.

In daily morning prayers, Jews thank God for renewing the world. Every Shabbat we recall the first moment of creation, and by doing so, give ourselves the chance to start over. At Rosh Hashanah, Jews everywhere celebrate the birthday of the world, and even in the Mishna, the code of law, we recognize multiple Rosh Hashanahs (New Year's), so to commemorate an additional one is not foreign to Jewish practice.

Most traditional religious groups have shied away from celebrating at New Year's, so the celebrations have no wisdom to guide them. Those that have offered guidance often have done so in a manner that feels defensive. But if we can find a way to use our traditions to help bridge the divide, we can create richer, more meaningful ways to live.

Excerpted from My Jewish Learning.

The Sound of the Shofar

Folks, for those of you who didn't get a chance to hear the Shofar this Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah, or for our readers who don't know what the Shofar sounds like, click on the link below. I keep playing it and the goose bumps keep coming up on my entire body because it will be the sound of the heralding of Moshiach.

Enjoy.

The Sound of the Shofar

Some Ideas to Make the Upcoming Yom Kippur Service More Meaningful by Rabbi Kalman Packouz

Take pleasure! You made an important decision to attend. Don't regret it.

You are not there to be entertained. You are there to accomplish something on a spiritual level - to come closer to the Almighty, to introspect, to set yourself on a better path in life.

Don't blame the service or the rabbi or the prayerbook. If you want to you can prepare in advance - read the machzor (the special prayerbook for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur) to understand the ideas and the words. Make a list of what deeds or behaviors you regret, would like to correct and would like the Almighty to forgive.

The mind seems to have 2 tracks - a person can talk and think about what he wants to say next; he can read and think about something else; he can pray and think about a million other things. When reading a silent prayer, concentrate on what you're reading. When listening to the chazan (the person leading the service) focus on a spiritual thought -"Almighty, I love You." "Almighty forgive me." "Almighty help me." It prevents thinking about the score of the game, bills due, repairs needed at home. Most people will not understand the Hebrew liturgy being chanted. However, even if the mind can't understand it, the heart and soul can take nourishment from the words, the tune, the atmosphere. Relax and listen to the essence.

Make the best use of your time. Look at the commentary on the prayers. Bring something about Yom Kippur to read. And if you are really suffering, then just ask, "Almighty, please accept all of my suffering for being in synagogue as an atonement for my transgressions."

Many people complain each year, "How can my synagogue charge so much for tickets for High Holiday services? It's a sin to have to pay to pray!" Actually, you don't have to pay to pray; you can stay home and pray. Unfortunately, only 25% of all Jews in the USA belong to anything Jewish -and possibly most belong to Jewish Community Centers. This means that for the synagogue to stay solvent all year for the "twice a year" Jew to attend, they have get support where and when they can.

I believe that people were paying a lot more for tickets to the Olympic games than most synagogues charge for High Holiday tickets - and the people were glad to be able to get tickets. Believe me, you will get more out of synagogue on Yom Kippur than watching people run around a track!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2005 Rosh Hashana 5765

Shanah Tovah! Happy New Year!

Wishing each of you a sweet new year with good health, happiness and success.

What is Rosh Hashana ?

Rosh Hashana is the Jewish New Year, commemorating the creation of Adam and Eve, the first human beings.

On Rosh Hashana, the Books of Life and Death are open on the heavenly desk. On this "Day of Judgment," we each stand before God and offer our best case for being "created anew" -- i.e. granted another year of life.

The morning before Rosh Hashana, we perform "Hatarat Nedarim" -- annulling all vows. This enables us to enter the new year with a clean slate.

The essential mitzvah of Rosh Hashana is to hear the sounding of the shofar. The shofar blasts represent three distinct themes of the day:

1. It is the sound of the King's coronation
2. It is the sobbing cry of a Jewish heart
3. It is an alarm clock, arousing us from our spiritual slumber

The shofar is also mindful of the biblical story of Abraham binding his son Isaac, when a ram was caught in the thicket and sacrificed in Isaac's stead. We blow a ram's horn to recall the great act of faith in God performed by Abraham and Isaac; tradition records that this event occurred on the day of Rosh Hashana.

The shofar is not blown when Rosh Hashana falls on Shabbat.

A central part of Rosh Hashana is the festive meal. During the High Holidays, a round challah is used -- symbolizing fullness and completion. We dip the bread into honey, and also an apple into honey, symbolizing our prayer for a sweet new year. On Rosh Hashana, we also eat a series of foods that symbolize good things we hope for in the coming year.

It is customary to greet others with the words: "L'shana Tova -- Ketivah vi-chatima Tova." This means: "For a good year -- You should be written and sealed in the good (Book of Life)."

The "Tashlich" prayer is said on the first afternoon of Rosh Hashana by a pool of water that preferably has fish in it. These prayers are symbolic of the casting away of our mistakes. When the first day of Rosh Hashana falls on Shabbat, it is said on the afternoon of the second day.

While the decision for "another year of life" is handed down on Rosh Hashana, the verdict is not "sealed" unto Yom Kippur. Therefore, the 10 days from Rosh Hashana to Yom Kippur are a crucial period when most peoples' judgment "hangs in the balance." During these "Ten Days of Repentance," we engage in intense introspection, and are particularly careful with our speech, actions, and mitzvah observance.

Excerpts from A Quick Overview of the High Holidays by Rabbi Shraga Simmons

The most important time of the Jewish year is often the most misunderstood. Here's all the basics you need to know.

The High Holiday period actually begins in Elul, the Hebrew month preceding Rosh Hashana. Elul is an important period of introspection, of clarifying life's goals, and of coming closer to God. Because when the big day of Rosh Hashana comes, and each individual stands before the Almighty to ask for another year, we'll want to know what we're asking for!

During Elul, many people perform a daily cheshbon - a spiritual accounting -- where we step back and look at ourselves critically and honestly, with the intention of improving. In order to arouse us to this task, it is the Ashkenazi custom to blow the shofar every morning after prayers during the month of Elul.

Historically, this month has great significance, because it was on the first day of Elul that Moses -- following the sin of the Golden Calf -- ascended Mount Sinai to receive a new, second set of stone tablets. Forty days later -- on the seminal Yom Kippur -- Moses returned to the people with tablets in hand, signaling a repair of the breech between the Jewish people and God.

High Holiday preparations intensify on the Saturday night before Rosh Hashana, when we recite "Slichot," a special series of prayers that includes the powerful "13 Attributes of Mercy."

ROSH HASHANA

Rosh Hashana is the Jewish New Year, commemorating the creation of Adam and Eve, the first human beings. On Rosh Hashana, the Books of Life and Death are open on the heavenly desk. On this "Day of Judgment," we each stand before God and offer our best case for being "created anew" -- i.e. granted another year of life.
The morning before Rosh Hashana, we perform "Hatarat Nedarim" -- annulling all vows. This enables us to enter the new year with a clean slate.

The essential mitzvah of Rosh Hashana is to hear the sounding of the shofar.

The shofar blasts represent three distinct themes of the day:
It is the sound of the King's coronation
It is the sobbing cry of a Jewish heart
It is an alarm clock, arousing us from our spiritual slumber

The shofar is also mindful of the biblical story of Abraham binding his son Isaac, when a ram was caught in the thicket and sacrificed in Isaac's stead. We blow a ram's horn to recall the great act of faith in God performed by Abraham and Isaac; tradition records that this event occurred on the day of Rosh Hashana. The shofar is not blown when Rosh Hashana falls on Shabbat.

A central part of Rosh Hashana is the festive meal. During the High Holidays, a round challah is used -- symbolizing fullness and completion. We dip the bread into honey, and also an apple into honey, symbolizing our prayer for a sweet new year. On Rosh Hashana, we also eat a series of foods that symbolize good things we hope for in the coming year.

It is customary to greet others with the words: "L'shana Tova -- Ketivah vi-chatima Tova." This means: "For a good year -- You should be written and sealed in the good (Book of Life)."

The "Tashlich" prayer is said on the first afternoon of Rosh Hashana by a pool of water that preferably has fish in it. These prayers are symbolic of the casting away of our mistakes. When the first day of Rosh Hashana falls on Shabbat, it is said on the afternoon of the second day.

While the decision for "another year of life" is handed down on Rosh Hashana, the verdict is not "sealed" unto Yom Kippur. Therefore, the 10 days from Rosh Hashana to Yom Kippur are a crucial period when most peoples' judgment "hangs in the balance." During these "Ten Days of Repentance," we engage in intense introspection, and are particularly careful with our speech, actions, and mitzvah observance.

YOM KIPPUR

Following the Golden Calf, Moses pleaded with God to forgive the Jewish people. Finally, on Yom Kippur, atonement was achieved and Moses brought the second set of Tablets down from Mount Sinai. From that day forward, every Yom Kippur has carried with it a special power to cleanse the mistakes of Jews (both individually and collectively) and to wipe the slate clean.

Yom Kippur is thus the holiest day of the Jewish year. In order to help us achieve a high spiritual level, there are five areas of physical involvement which we remove ourselves from on Yom Kippur:
eating and drinking
washing
applying oils or lotions to the skin
marital relations
wearing leather shoes

The Yom Kippur fast begins at sundown, and extends 25 hours until the following nightfall. Though Yom Kippur atones for transgressions against God, this does not include wrongs committed against our fellow human beings. It is therefore the universal Jewish custom -- sometime before Yom Kippur -- to apologize and seek forgiveness from any friends, relative, or acquaintances whom we may have harmed or insulted over the past year.

The High Holidays are followed five days later by Sukkot, a holiday of immense joy, where we express our complete trust in God, and celebrate our confidence in having received a "good judgment" for the coming year.

http://www.aish.com/hhElul/hhElulDefault/a_quick_overview_of_the_high_holidays.asp