Written by: Rabba Kaya Stern-Kaufman
Tonight we begin a journey of memory. Rosh Hashanah- referred to in the Talmud as Yom Hazikaron- the Day of Remembering, demands that we look back before we can set forth into the new year. It is the holy work of both personal and collective accounting. It is the ground from which we can make the needed repairs in all of our relationships.
A child is born. The seed of possibility is planted. Sarah, a 90 year old woman conceives and gives birth to a son. Her laughter becomes his name- Yitzhak. Every Rosh Hashanah we begin the new year with this story, wherein a path that had been blocked for a lifetime, is opened. Where there was grief, there is now joy, laughter and celebration. Where there seemed to be a dead-end there is now a future of possibilities. This is the text our Rabbis and sages require us to hear at the turning of the year. These are messages of hope and new beginnings that lay the spiritual foundation for the new year.
