Written and sealed

Editorial

"Who shall live, and who shall die."

As we celebrate Rosh Hashana, just days before marking the first anniversary of Sept. 11, the traditional High Holiday liturgy resonates profoundly. Almost a year ago, the fate of nearly 3,000 Americans was sealed when airplanes slammed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and plummeted into the Pennsylvania countryside.

Glued to our TV sets, many of us watched in horror as the twin towers burst into flames, then crumbled, trapping thousands in a fiery inferno. An anguished nation mourned the tragic loss of life - and experienced a tragic erosion of confidence in our national safety and security.

So it is understandable if we greet this Rosh Hashana with some trepidation. After all, the High Holiday liturgy arrays before us the Book of Life and the Book of Death. What will the ensuing days and weeks bring?

The 12 post-Sept. 11 months have done little to free us from this pessimism. Violence continues in Israel; peace remains elusive. Anti-Semitism roils Western Europe. An economic downturn at home has consigned many Americans to a year of want - multiplying needs and decimating resources - both personal and communal.

And yet, we go on.

This Friday evening, homes across the Valley and around the world will be redolent with the scents of holiday cooking. Families will gather around tables laden with special treats. We'll make kiddush over sweet wine and hamotzi over round loaves of fragrant challah, rich with egg and plump with raisins. We'll dip circles of crisp apples in thick honey, a propitious taste for a good and sweet year to come.

Saturday morning, we will gather at area synagogues to hear the traditional Torah parshat, the story of creation in our Reform congregations, the birth of Isaac in our Conservative and Orthodox services. The readings examine the holiday's message of rebirth and renewal, of promise and hope. The following day, we'll hear the ultimate story of faith and trust, the binding of Isaac, and be reminded of the divine presence.

The holiday rituals and readings sustain us, pushing us into the future while connecting us to the past. This continuous cycling of the Jewish year enables us to remember the tragic events of 5762 even as it prods us to anticipate, with hope, what lies ahead.

Beginning anew, the essence of Rosh Hashana, is the ultimate affirmation of faith, the quintessence of who we are as a people.

May we all begin anew, written and sealed in the Book of Life. L'shana tova tikatevu.

Home