The Days of Awe Part 3

What are some rituals observed at the Rosh Hashanah table?
The Jews have special bread called "challah." The challah is usually long but now it’s round, symbolizing the cycle of life. Everyone has the custom of dipping something in honey; some of the Sephardim (Jews from Spain and Portugal) dip bread, Ashkenazi (Jews from eastern European) dip apples. With the dipping they say: “May it be a sweet year, L’shanah tovah.” A good year. Also, some people dip vegetables. While others set out the head of a fish and say, “May we be a head and not a tail.” These are traditions without a sound Biblical foundation.

The Jews practice tashlich, the casting away of sins.
On the day of Rosh Hashanah, at about 5 or 6, between the afternoon and evening prayers, Jews come from a synagogue together to stand beside a moving body of water to do tashlich, a casting away of sins, which is described by the prophet Micah. As a symbol, some people toss bread into the water, probably a custom from medieval Germany, where the pious were very mystically oriented and may have borrowed the ritual from Christians. The water can be either a river, a lake, or an ocean. In New York you can see people doing the ritual along the Hudson River. The idea of water purification is very old. When you enter a synagogue, you wash hands, when you go to pray at a mosque, you wash hands and feet. Christians are baptized. Everyone uses water as a sign.

What rituals are observed only at the meal on the second night of Rosh Hashana?
On the evening meal on the second day, after Kiddush—the blessing of the wine—we add a new fruit, to celebrate this occasion, this rebirth. It will be a fruit the individual has not eaten all year, so it’s usually an exotic fruit. Fruit stores know about the ritual and stock exotic offerings for the occasion. Some families have their own customary fruit.

What are some of the traditional ways to repent during the Days of Awe?
The 10 days are all about repentance. It’s a time when you ask forgiveness of your friends you’ve wronged. Of course you can go to the temple and say, “God forgive me,” but if I hurt you in some way, why should God be the only one to forgive? You must ask the people you’ve hurt for their forgiveness. The days of awe are an effort of critical self-examination. You apologize: “I gossiped about you. I was angry with you.” Then, the one in the position to forgive now has the responsibility to act. The importance of community to the Hebrew can be easily seen by this practice. If people in the community don't get along, it has a direct affect on the community. Has does this compare with the practice in most churches? Perhaps now we can better understand Yeshua's teachings about being reconciled to your brother even before giving a gift to the synagogue. All of these practices are meant to be both individual and collective.

Today, is there someone you owe an apology to? If so, what is the Hebraic approach? It is a real shame that Christian practices have diluted repentance. We need to think about our community and quit acting like "Lone Rangers."