Old and New

[Jerry Roth]

[patti santucci]

Jerry,

This is lovely. What a meaningful tradition. I love the idea of letting go of past sins by throwing bread in the water. That must feel like a quiet, peaceful, inner sense of forgiveness. The collective grieving for those that have passed and the warmth of the sweet memories they leave behind sounds so comforting. So different in my upbringing where we learned to not mention loss - just dust ourselves off and keep walking. And what a touchstone and grounding presence the Mosaic Law Congregation must have for you and your family.

Patti

OLD AND NEW

A fiddler on a roof. Sounds crazy, no? Every one of us is a fiddler on a roof trying to scratch out a

pleasant, simple tune without breaking his neck. (

From

Tradition,

the opening song in

Fiddler on the

Roof.)

The old and the new meet face to face this week

in homes and places of worship as Rosh Hashanah,

the Jewish New Year, begins.

Ancient traditions take center stage.

The piercing sound of the ram's horn awakes

hearts and minds to justice not yet attained

as we strive to repair the world and become more whole.

The accumulated sins of the past year are shed

as we symbolically rid ourselves of them by

throwing pieces of bread into bodies of water.

The congregation collectively mourns the death of loved ones

whose lives left sweet memories that inspire us.

In my childhood, the Jewish New Year, began with

a festive meal of roast goose at my grandparents' home.

The following morning, my brother, father and grandfather

walked two miles to the orthodox Hungarian shul on Water Street.

During the rabbi's sermon, the women in the balcony

wailed for family members who perished in the Holocaust.

Like the men, I took a pinch as the snuff box was passed around.

The service was entirely in Hebrew and Yiddish

rendering me completely devoid of understanding.

There were no activities for children but baseball cards

were traded with friends during brief breaks in the service.

The memories of those special days have stayed with me always.

On Sunday evening, the first day of the new year, 5783, will be celebrated.

A new, young rabbi who was hired following an exhaustive search,

to lead Mosaic Law Congregation. His energy and enthusiasm is contagious.

He has been seen wearing two different color socks attesting

to his living in the spiritual realm. There is a new, neutral gray-beige

carpet to replace the powder blue one. No one knows why it was

necessary. We have a new President, a young lobbyist with shoulder

length hair, who has brought needed changes to modernize the services.

This is my 50th

year as a member. We were married there thirty-eight years ago, and

our children had their Bar and Bat Mitzvahs there. The old and the new,

traditions and innovations will be on full display as everyone exchanges

the greeting,

Shana Tova,

have a good year.

Jerry Roth- September 20, 2022

On 09/20/2022 5:42 PM Jerry Roth <jerr...@gmail.com> wrote:

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