By Rabbi Myra Meskin, Associate Director of the Maas Center for Jewish Journeys
and Brett Richman, MHWOW Program Manager
Introduction
Rosh Hashanah, literally the “Head of the Year,” the birthday of the world, begins this year on the evening of Monday, September 6th and lasts (outside of Israel) until sundown on Wednesday, September 8th. Some communities are emerging from a year of social distancing, Zoom services, and societal reckoning, and some are still facing the challenges of a global pandemic. The year 5782 brings with it new hopes: for health, for hugs, for justice. For all of us, we hope that what we have learned this past year – about ourselves and our society – can propel us into a year of renewed focus on what matters most.
The High Holiday season asks us not just to celebrate a new beginning, but to reflect, repent and renew our commitments. It is all too easy to reenter society and to slip back into our old ways. How can we use this Rosh Hashanah as a chance to reflect on the last year, to learn from our collective trauma, and to pave a new way forward toward building a better world?
This year’s resource guide focuses on those topics that can help us take the best of what we’ve learned from the pandemic experience and bring in this New Year with a sense of celebration, purpose and meaning.
Don’t forget: residents can apply for up to $100 to support their creative Rosh Hashanah programming by applying for a chag grant, and hosts can apply to use their holiday budgets, up to $100, on Rosh Hashanah too!
