Rosh Hashanah begins on Monday

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, begins on Monday night. Like all New Year's celebrations, it's a chance to start over.

I am not Jewish. I am Catholic. As I have studied Catholic faith and tradition over the years, I wonder how this wonderful tradition got left out of the Christian experience. When did it morph into something else?

Rosh Hashanah occurs in the fall. What a wonderful time to start a new? I have never really been able to think of New Years as a starting point of the year. It just seems so odd. It is in the dark of winter often devoid of color and life. But in the fall as nature is starting to abound with color and the winds start to pick up, it seems a bit more understandable. So as a good Catholic girl, I ususally stop and pause with my Jewish brothers and sisters at this time of year.

I find it a great time to spend on some introspection, looking back on the past years successes and failures and make plans to go forward. This for me means forgiveness. Not just of the people that I have gotten angry with over the course of the last year but forgiveness of myself. To let go of all the things that I tend to use as weapon to hurt myself.

There is a great blog post on belief.net about this very subject. http://blog.beliefnet.com/windowsanddoors/2008/09/rosh-hashanah-repentance-and-t.html

The author serves up 10 tips for forigiveness. Most of which really hit home this year. According to the Talmud, G-d created mankind on the first day of the month Tishri. As such, Rosh Hashanah commemorates the creation of the human race. It is a time for cleansing and renewal, a chance to receive forgiveness and clear the slate. What a wonderful thing to commenorate and what a wonderful thing to celebrate in our lifes each and every day!

L'shanah tovah to you all.