By: Nomi Kaltmann as seen in The Age
In September and October each year, the Jewish calendar is jam packed with festivals. These four weeks are an intense time, with festive meals, lots of family time and additional synagogue services.
Kicking off the four weeks of fun is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, which is imbued with symbolism. We eat pomegranates, so our good deeds multiply like the fruit’s many seeds, and some people place a head of a ram or fish on their table, so their year should be like a head and not a tail.
The year goes round and round, so traditional challah loaves are shaped into balls, and we dip apples into honey, so we have a happy and sweet new year.
Just 10 days later, Rosh Hashanah is followed by Yom Kippur, the most solemn day of the year. On Yom Kippur, we fast for 25 hours, wear white and spend the day in solemn reflection in synagogue, thinking about our mortality and praying for a good year.
And just three days after Yom Kippur, we begin the Jewish festival Sukkot. During these eight days Jews build a temporary hut in their gardens, covered with palm tree leaves or bamboo, where we sit and eat all our meals.
Sukkot commemorates the care the Jewish people received from God when they were in the desert for 40 years, with a pillar of cloud to keep them cool by day and a pillar of fire by night in their travels.
Jewish High Holidays are the highlight of my year. As I kid, I would count days until it was Sukkot, when we would build our hut in the backyard and host meals with our family and friends. And it’s a pleasure to transmit the customs of our ancestors to my own children.
When the end of the Jewish High Holidays comes around, I am exhausted from the feasting and fasting, the hosting, the additional time in synagogue, but I’m also happy and satisfied.
When I feel tired, I remind myself that only a few years ago during the pandemic, for two years in a row, none of these celebrations happened. We stayed home and were unable to gather, and the festive season did not retain the same sense of meaning.
So, it only takes me a moment to appreciate my blessings and the fact I’m so lucky to be able to celebrate my faith with my family in peace and serenity, with the bonus of guests and in-person celebrations.
Nomi Kaltmann is an Orthodox rabbi.