Rosh HaShanah is the beginning of the New Year. But then again, it’s not. Rosh HaShanah occurs in Tishri, the seventh month of the Jewish calendar. The first month is Nisan. Yet the first day of Nisan is only one of several dates marking a new year in our calendar. The first of Elul marks the new year for determining the tithing of animals. The fifteenth of Shevat establishes the new year for identifying new fruit on trees.
Shabbat itself celebrates a moment of new beginning. During that period of rest and cessation, we stand at the threshold between the ephemeral and the eternal.
Shabbat’s interruption of the week’s relentless demands reminds us that whatever has occurred need not be the measure of what has to happen next. Change is possible. We can do differently.
Our daily morning prayers remind us that each day is a renewal. We thank God for restoring us to life. Awakening to a new day is not to be taken for granted. We have been given the chance to rise up unburdened that how we acted yesterday need not condemn the course of today. God has breathed into us new possibilities, which are ours if we but breathe in deeply enough.
Jewish wisdom has provided each of us with multiple possibilities for starting over. Including right now.
Rosh HaShanah is the beginning of the New Year. But then again, it’s not. Every day, every week, every month, every moment holds that possibility. May each of us be blessed with the wisdom, courage and insight to make good use of them. Starting now.
What we call the beginning is often the end
And to make an end is to make a beginning.
[HIGH HOLY DAYS | Rabbi Steven Moskowitz ]
Now Is a New Beginning
Rabbi Steven Moskowitz