{"id":38540,"date":"2017-09-20T14:28:22","date_gmt":"2017-09-20T20:28:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=38540"},"modified":"2020-01-12T00:09:04","modified_gmt":"2020-01-12T06:09:04","slug":"rabbis-reflect-on-rosh-hashanah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/rabbis-reflect-on-rosh-hashanah\/","title":{"rendered":"Rabbis Reflect on Rosh Hashanah"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By NICHOLAS HAMBURGER, <em>SPECIAL TO THE CCJN<\/em><\/p>\n<p>In anticipation of Rosh Hashanah, the\u00a0<em>Crescent City Jewish News<\/em> spoke with four rabbis in the New Orleans area about their thoughts on the holiday, discussing in particular its relationship to personal change and time. Rosh Hashanah, which begins at sundown on September 20, marks the beginning of the Jewish New Year, and it is celebrated on the first and second days of Tishrei, the seventh month of the Jewish calendar. The holiday commences the period of ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur known in Judaism as the High Holy Days, or the Days of Awe.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_38541\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Silver_Loewy.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38541\" class=\"wp-image-38541 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Silver_Loewy-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Silver_Loewy-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Silver_Loewy-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Silver_Loewy-1024x768.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/225;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38541\" class=\"wp-image-38541 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Silver_Loewy-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Silver_Loewy-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Silver_Loewy-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Silver_Loewy-1024x768.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-38541\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rabbi Deborah Silver of Shir Chadash and Rabbi Robert Loewy of Congregation Gates of Prayer (photo by Alan Smason)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>In a phone interview, Rabbi Robert Loewy, the rabbi of Congregation Gates of Prayer, emphasized the concept of change: \u201cRosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are all about change, adjusting to change, and changing ourselves.\u201d After 34 years, Loewy will be stepping down from the pulpit at Congregation Gates of Prayer, the Reform synagogue in Metairie, and he stated he will discuss this particular shift when he addresses his congregation on Rosh Hashanah.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile much of this congregation and many of the congregants are linked to me personally, when the next year comes I hope they are going to be open to a new rabbi who will bring different qualities, values, characteristics, and enthusiasm,\u201d Loewy said. \u201cThe concept of teshuvah is: are we willing to change?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Teshuvah,<\/em> which in Hebrew literally means \u201crepentance,\u201d is a period of intensive self-reflection undertaken by many Jews during the High Holy Days. But as Rabbi Deborah Silver, the rabbi of Metairie\u2019s Shir Chadash Conservative Synagogue, points out, the word carries other resonances. \u201cMy preferred translation of\u00a0<em>teshuvah<\/em> is &#8216;change,&#8217;\u201d said Silver, who holds a degree in the Theory and Practice of Literary Translation from the University of Essex, England.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_9010\" style=\"width: 255px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Gabriel_Greenberg_Beth_Israel.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9010\" class=\"wp-image-9010 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Gabriel_Greenberg_Beth_Israel-245x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"245\" height=\"300\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Gabriel_Greenberg_Beth_Israel-245x300.jpg 245w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Gabriel_Greenberg_Beth_Israel.jpg 344w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 245px) 100vw, 245px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 245px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 245\/300;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9010\" class=\"wp-image-9010 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Gabriel_Greenberg_Beth_Israel-245x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"245\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Gabriel_Greenberg_Beth_Israel-245x300.jpg 245w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Gabriel_Greenberg_Beth_Israel.jpg 344w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 245px) 100vw, 245px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-9010\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rabbi Gabriel Greenberg of Congregation Beth Israel (photo by Alan Smason)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Rabbi Gabriel Greenberg, the rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel, a Modern Orthodox synagogue also located in Metairie, expanded on this idea: \u201cWe often find that our struggles from year to year remain the same, whether spiritual, personal, individual, or collective. We pray that this year will finally be the one where we are able to change our lives for the better in whatever way we need to.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Though Rosh Hashanah celebrates the beginning of a New Year on the Jewish calendar, the holiday also marks a period of remembrance. \u201cRosh Hashanah is a great example of Judaism\u2019s approach to time more generally,\u201d Greenberg wrote in an email. It is, according to Greenberg, an \u201cintersection between the . . . cyclical nature of time,\u201d and the \u201clinear nature of time we\u2019re more used to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rabbi Matthew Reimer, the senior rabbi of Temple Sinai, one of two Uptown Reform synagogues, elaborated on a similar idea: \u201cTime is both always moving forward and cyclical. Our Jewish calendar is the perfect example of that. We repeat everything, right down to our very text &#8212; we read it every single year.&#8221; Reimer probed the holiday\u2019s approach to time by posing a question. \u201cKnowing that time is always moving forward, how do you then address the fact that you\u2019re doing a review of the year that was, in order to look ahead?\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_31348\" style=\"width: 277px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Reimer_head.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-31348\" class=\"wp-image-31348 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Reimer_head-267x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"267\" height=\"300\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Reimer_head-267x300.jpg 267w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Reimer_head-913x1024.jpg 913w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 267px) 100vw, 267px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 267px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 267\/300;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-31348\" class=\"wp-image-31348 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Reimer_head-267x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"267\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Reimer_head-267x300.jpg 267w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Reimer_head-913x1024.jpg 913w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 267px) 100vw, 267px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-31348\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Senior Rabbi Matthew Reimer of Temple Sinai (photo by Alan Smason)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>In Judaism, this remembrance is referred to as <em>zichronot<\/em>, which is sounded by the second of three blowings on the shofar, an act that is performed in services on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Loewy described <em>zichronot<\/em> as the moment when \u201cwe remember the moments of interaction over time\u201d with God and, furthermore, as when \u201cwe remember the sense of a covenant that we have with God.\u201d He continued: \u201cHonoring memory is a way not only to honor those that went before us, but it also is a reminder of who we are as a result of who they were.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The four rabbis will speak about a variety of topics when they address their respective congregations on Wednesday night. Reimer plans on emphasizing the importance of personal happiness to his congregants at Temple Sinai before he transitions to a sermon against anti-Semitism. \u201cHappiness is as much a part of who we should be as Jews and as humans as anything else,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Silver plans to center her sermons at Shir Chadash around the concept of renewal. \u201cI feel that over the past year it\u2019s been a difficult world to live in,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Our sensibilities are getting pummeled over and over again. The idea that this is a season in which we renew our hearts will be running as a theme throughout everything that I talk about.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>While Loewy plans to discuss the imminent change in rabbis at Congregation Gates of Prayer, down the street at neighboring Beth Israel, Greenberg will focus, in part, on the recent hurricanes that have devastated various communities in the United States and Caribbean islands. In the wake of the destructive natural disasters, Greenberg noted, \u201cIt makes sense to say that, in the Rosh Hashanah liturgy, God is a god of mercy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Twelve years after the catastrophic flooding of Hurricane Katrina, Greenberg\u2019s discussion of the recent hurricanes will likely be a poignant subject for his congregation, which moved to Metairie after Katrina floodwaters destroyed the congregation\u2019s former location in the Lakeview neighborhood of New Orleans.<\/p>\n<p>On that note, Silver offered insight into the significance of celebrating Rosh Hashanah and the High Holy Days in New Orleans. She observed that New Orleans is a place that has \u201cthe capacity to celebrate what is here and to take joy in what is ephemeral. And that flows from a deep familiarity with what it means to be fragile.\u201d That feeling, Silver continued, is \u201c<em>very<\/em> High Holy Days.\u201d<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"Rabbis%20Reflect%20on%20Rosh%20Hashanah\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":38541,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,640,641],"tags":[171,213,1079,275,8953,8952,3091,8176,342,1776,8820,281,8802],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38540"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38540"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52887,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38540\/revisions\/52887"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}