Rosh Hashanah is a time for t'shuvah, for return, and so, every year I return to think about where I was the year before. Freshman year I was new and lost. Sophomore year I was a Rescuer. Last year I was a Leader. This year I am... what? a traveler? a stranger? the exchange student who hangs around Chabad every week and is now fairly close with the Rebbetzin?
In answer to people's questions of what Rosh Hashanah is like in Denmark, this is what I did: Spent every chag meal at Chabad, as I tend to do, including helping the Rabbi chop frozen chickens the night before (yuck). The first day I went to the Progressive shul, and while it was nice to be in a Progressive Jewish space again, there was too much missing from the service. The second day I went to the Great Synagogue, which I hadn´t been in since I was there with the Sunshines. It was nice to sit with the girls I knew in the women's balcony, and quite the wake up call to hear the shofar blown inside such a beautiful building. However, the Hazan reads every word, delighting me that I had only shown up for Musaf. After lunch, everyone at Chabad walked to a nearby park for Tashlich. This part was the weirdest, because even though I bike around Copenhagen in shul clothes, I'm not visibly Jewish. Ever. So now, I'm walking with a group of frum Jews in the streets of Copenhagen to stand next to a body of water to throw bread in it. Beautiful to participate in a community, but I think I'll do tashlich by myself in the lakes, which are the canals that intersect the city.
Instead of wishing the generic good wishes for the new year, I'll share a story I enjoy:
A person was walking in the forest, and was very lost. Soon, they approached a stranger and called out, 'Friend! Can you help me find the way out of this forest? I am lost and cannot find my way out!' The stranger replied, 'Brother, I am lost as well and can only tell you this: Do not go the way I have gone, because that is not the way. But maybe we can find our way out together.'
In the year 5770, may we all find friends to help find our way through life. L'shana tova.
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L'Shanah Tovah, beautiful. I'm glad you got to participate in Tashlich with a community. I love that.
ReplyDeleteAnd a story in return:
A man falls into a deep, dark hole. He's scared, and he can't seem to find a way out. A policeman walks past the hole above, and the man cries for help. "I'm sorry," the policeman says. "I can't help you." A doctor walks by, but the doctor also cannot help.
Finally, a friend hears the man's cry for help, and he jumps into the hole with him. "Why did you do that?" the man asked. "Now we're both in this dark hole."
"Because I've been in this hole before," the friend says. "And I know the way out."