New Year New Me

Tonight is the start of the Jewish New Year. There will be lots of eating (particularly of sweet foods so we should have a sweet new year) and lots of family time as well as the synagogue being full (one of the only times in the year it is!)

For the next 10 days, up till Yom Kippur (the day of atonement) we are in a period called the 'Days of Awe'. On Yom Kippur we spend the day fasting, repenting, and trying to heal our relationship with God after the mistakes of the last year. But during the days of awe we need to do some other hard work to make that possible - we need to heal our relationships with each other on earth. Saying sorry to God doesn't work if we haven't made up for it on earth. Apologising to people who love me is one thing - they and I both know I can be lazy or nasty, but it is really tough to apologise to people you don't get on with. Perhaps in realising how difficult this approach is we start to change our behaviour for the coming year to avoid being in the same place again next year.

However hard it is, I deeply appreciate that Judaism has built into the calander a period with dedicated time for reflection and inner work, when I can consider the mistakes I made and change them, as well as the things I got right so that I can do more of the same next year! In the hustle and bustle of modern life I rarely have space and time to do it, and wouldn't want to all the time, but this time means I can focus on what will make me the best version of myself in the coming year, and how I can work to make the world a better place.

Hoping the new year comes to all of us for goodness and blessing