Shabbat Gathering: Rosh Hashanah: What’s the meaning of this?
Dear Chevrei, tonight is Erev Rosh Hashanah and there will be a potluck dinner at FUS at 5.00p followed by services at 7.00p. We will not have a Shabbat Gathering tonight. Services will be broadcast on the internet and a link has been sent to those who have registered for the service.
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Also: It's that time of year when we renew our membership with the synagogue. Please take a couple of minutes and fill out the form here. And if you'd like to join our merry band, there's a form for you too. It's here.
Shanah Tovah Umtukah!
Here we go.
Traditionally, Rosh Hashanah is the date when G!d began creating the world and this year marks the 5,784th year since that beginning. Whether or not we believe in that legend, Rosh Hashanah is another one of those holy days when we decide for ourselves what we’ll take from our legends and what we’ll leave behind. As an English major and life-long reader of novels, I’ve contended with myths and legends my entire life. There are characters from books I’ve read that are more real to me than many of the people I’ve met.
When I think about the world being created 5,784 years ago, I think about a scene from Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh when Charles Ryder and Sebastian Flyte are talking about religion. Charles (an atheist) asks Sebastian (somewhat of a Catholic) if Sebastian actually believes in the "fairy tales" from the Bible. Sebastian replies of course he believes in them because they are all so beautiful. I find myself is the same position as Sebastian. I “believe” in Bible stories because they are all so beautiful and amazing.
It isn't real, but it's true.
There’s an expression that regularly comes up during our Torah Study on Shabbat mornings: “It isn’t real, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true.” We don’t live in a real world where G!d takes a bunch of dirt, breathes life into it, and creates people. We don’t live in a real world where someone builds a boat, puts two of every animal on board, and has it sail away as the rains cover the planet. And we don’t even live in a real world where the plagues actually happened and forced Pharoah to release the Israelites from bondage. But we do live in a world where these legends are true in that we have to struggle with them because they are a part of mankind’s collective memory and a reference point for stories coming after them. Many of our children grow up on these legends. Mine did. Movies are made about them. Books other than the Bible are written about them. These stories are something we wrestle with even if they actually didn’t really happen.
But it’s really up to you. There are as many ways to be a Jew as there are Jews — and more. I’ve found a way that works for me. You’ve probably already found what works for you. As we say in Yiddish, zei gezunt, be well and farewell.
And may it be for all of us a blessing.
Gut Shabbes!
All my love,
brian.
PS
My Jewish Learning
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