Whether you identify as Jewish or not, a believer or not – let us agree for now that we are all spiritual beings living in a human body. So Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year but it can also be considered the beginning of Autumn – a time of rebirth and renewal. A time to reflect on the past and start again.
The ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is a spiritual journey – think of it as a time of being” pregnant ” with forgiveness, non-judgement, new ideas, aspirations, and a turning towards a new beginning – a birth of new compassion, faith, love, and grace. See if you can spend one day like the one I am describing during this period. Wouldn’t it be a lovely day?
Rosh Hashanah
On Rosh Hashanah one should spend the day doing what one would like to do for the rest of the year.
Surround yourself with kindness, happiness, gratitude, compassion, peace, and other qualities that will serve you in the New Year .
May you enjoy your apples and honey.
May you know when to surrender yourself with grace.
May you find beauty in unexpected places.
May you move with as much joy and ease as you can.
May your home be filled with light and fresh air.
May you enjoy your family and friends.
May you dance to beautiful music.
Something to celebrate: this is a time to return or turn to who you really are – to whom you are truly meant to be but not have arrived yet – this is the self that has been there from the beginning – the self that after all was created from an eternal divine love. This is a time at least for me and perhaps for you all to ponder, “What is most true about my life and what will be my legacy? integrity? Honesty? Loving-kindness? Truth? Awakening? “
What is broken and what is whole in my life? And finally knowing so well, in the words of Leonard Cohen, “ there is a crack, there is a crack in everything, and that is how the light gets in.”
May this light shine bright on your body, mind, heart, and spirit as we turn with the season and start again.
Reference: Rabbi Jill Zimmerman, founder Path with Heart, Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center
I think what you have said is beautiful. I have known nothing about the wonderful importance of the ten days. I love hearing about it Thank you! And of course your beautiful photographs add wonderfully to what you have written.
Such beautiful photographs, beautiful words of invitation and inspiration. A reminder of what is possible. Thank you.
May you enjoy your apples and honey.
The apple blossoms of summer have laden the trees with fruit; the honeybees fly back and forth to the flowers bursting with nectar and happiness with their work. I enjoy and am grateful for their labors.
May you know when to surrender yourself with grace.
It is not important to always be right, to know the answer. It is more important to listen and to be kind to others. The Dalai Lama writes, “if all you can do in your life is be kind to others, it is enough.”
May you find beauty in unexpected places.
The babbling of a baby, a shadow that shows the the world in relief, the movement of tall grass in the wind, people laughing and smiling together; this and so much much more inspires me every day. I thank my senses every day.
May you move with as much joy and ease as you can.
A daily walk in nature fills me energy; bending, stretching, and moving through the world freely fills me with happiness and gives every succeeding step more life. I pray that all creatures in the universe can find this joy and inspiration.
May your home be filled with light and fresh air.
As always, our home is a beacon that welcomes me with open arms and love. Trees shade our home, cooling it and funneling clean air into each room. My love and life sharer creates a beautiful light and vibration that warms our lives.
May you enjoy your family and friends.
Without family and friends I would be a cardboard cutout, without their kindness and support I would disappear into the mists of time.
May you dance to beautiful music.
I am reminded by my love to dance: with heart and abandon and movement to keep my body and spirit joyful and open to new ways of living.
Thank you FrannY for sharing this with all of us!