The happiest time of the year?
All year long, whenever I say something that Husband #1 isn’t happy about, he reminds me that it is almost Rosh Hashanah. Or it just was Rosh Hashanah. Or that it is Rosh Hashanah.
And that brings us back to this time of year. The time of reflection and forgiveness and prayer that the year ahead will be filled only with good health and good things.
And we just never know, because it isn’t up to us. But we can be hopeful. I am always hopeful that the few good things I do during the year will make up for all the not-so-good things I do during the year. We are taught that God judges us when we come before him after we die. Does this involve a very, very long list of everything we have done wrong? Frightening.
Apparently, on Rosh Hashanah, God sees our name on a list and decides what our year is going to be like. But then we have the 10 days before Yom Kippur to change his mind. When we believe, we believe that all of this is gospel, and we don’t question any of it.
We really do have 10 days to add certain things to our daily prayers, we have 10 days to be nicer or better or whatever. For the record, I don’t take any of this lightly, I am only trying to make light of it because it is so scary when you really think about it. Even one of my new surrogate grandchildren reminded me how important it is to do mitzvot during the time between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
I have to be honest, sometimes I wish that we had confession like the Catholics. When you think about it, confession is like sanctioned lashon hara (ill speech about others). Forgive me because I have sinned. So and so did this and that, and I thought evil thoughts about what I wanted to do to them. And then, and I only write this because it is what I have seen in the movies and on television, the priest forgives you, tells you to do some Hail Marys, and then you are on your way. Not sure what a “Hail Mary” is, but I imagine it has got to be easier than Jewish guilt.
How cool is that? Someone told me that when we say the prayer on Yom Kippur about all the sins we did, and we strike our hearts when we say them, it is comparable to confession.
Perhaps we should say them every day? I am not a rabbi, so I don’t know what I am talking about; these are just the things I think about. Hopefully, I am not the only one. Though, am I the only one who is always grateful that I haven’t committed every sin in those prayers?
And does God get frustrated when we pray that we will act better, but then we go back to being who we are? The world is completely out of control when we look at the big picture. The only way to feel that we are in control is to focus on our own little corners of the world.
As I sit on a bench in a park writing this column, I have no idea what the next year will bring, what tomorrow will bring, or what even five minutes from now will bring. I just look at the beauty that surrounds me, take a deep breath, and hope that all will be well.
I can choose to get annoyed by of the bugs that are flying around me or I can choose to ignore them and focus on my “pastries” who await me in Israel. I can choose to get annoyed by the fact that Husband #1 won’t let me bring a second suitcase or I can just be grateful that I am getting to see my Israelis again.
I can choose to be scared about all the things that can go wrong, or I can just be hopeful and have faith that God will grant all of us a year filled with only blessings.
I choose to believe that.
Banji Ganchrow of Teaneck is getting eaten alive by all the bugs that she is choosing to ignore and wishes you all positivity and simcha!