Head of the Year

First, I would like to point out that it is now 5771!

Second, I have surpassed 400 posts. I did so some time ago, but forgot to count so it doesn't show up on the page anymore. Oh well. Next time.

On Rosh Hashanah (head of the year in hebrew) we go to temple, eat apples 'n' honey, and blow the shofar (ram's horn). Yesterday at dinner we passed around the apples and honey and as I dipped my fruit into the golden mixture I noticed how gooey and sticky it was. Delicious-looking though, with little bubbles crystallized in the substance. Because the honey symbolizes a sweet year, I loaded up my apple slice. Sooooo much sugar.

The other cool thing that happened at dinner was someone spilled juice on our water-resistant table cloth. The droplets reminded me of golden dew.

Today, the first true day of the new year, I took off school to go to temple (but I also used the time to get a whole bunch of homework done). In the morning, I made a list of things I had to do and proceeded to dig in, crossing off item after item.

The list was 12 items long, however, and most of the stuff I had to do involved writing an essay, so by the time I had to go to temple, I still wasn't done. As soon as the service started my mind started twitching. "You have two hours to read the bio chapter," it whispered to me. "And you have to practice, and type up your summary..." Almost involuntarily, I started worrying and prioritizing the tasks in my mind. "O, first you have to fill out the recommendation form. Then you can read Crime and Punishment."

Then the blast of the shofar woke me out of my reverie. I was ashamed: here I was, praying on a High Holy day, and all I could think about was homework!

The shofar is a wake-up call. "Celebrate! Get moving!" it cries. No one can escape from its earsplitting blast. I think it's important to take this call at its word. Life can't be arranged into little compartments and crossed off from a list. God gave us this day (and every day) to do good in the world and enjoy his creations. I think all of us can afford to do that for at least one day out of the year.