By Rabbis David and Joshua Grossman

Shanah Tovah oo’mitukah!

We at Temple Beth Sholom wish everyone a happy and sweet New Year. During the month of Elul, the final month before the new year, we find ourselves taking a detailed inventory of what we did and did not do during the preceding year. The principle of the High Holiday season is summed up in the closing prayer of Yom Kippur. God tells us, “I do not desire the death of the wicked, rather the wicked’s return from the way that they live.”

Our method of returning to the correct path is called Teshuvah, which can be done anytime, but is truly emphasized during the days of the holidays. We engage in deep preparation for this powerful and meaningful time. Our buildings were prepared beautifully with our special holiday curtains and Torah covers. We use white in place of our standard colorful covers to signify purity and a fresh start which is gifted to everyone this time of year. Throughout the Holy Days, we hear the sound of the shofar, a ram’s horn whose piercing sound reverberates in synagogues across the globe, ushering in a New Year. This is a time of renewal and hope, however this year the shofar is sounded only on the second day of Rosh Hashanah because we do not blow the shofar on the Sabbath.

This year, in the early evening of the second day of Rosh Hashanah, we hold our Tashlich service on the sand of the beach. There we will ceremonially cast away past misdeeds, remembering that sins are not character flaws; rather, they are mistakes that we regret and resolve to not repeat.

We also look ahead to Yom Kippur, our Day of Atonement, Sunday night through Monday, Sept. 24 and 25. We will fast from sunset to sunset, taking in neither food nor water. It is a profoundly moving day of deep self-reflection, when we attempt once more to recognize our failures, correct our wrongs from the past year, and return our faith to God.

We will begin our Yom Kippur observance with a kosher dinner at Temple Beth Sholom on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. We look forward to seeing you all, and sharing in both the celebratory and reflective services and events in our temple home here in Hull over the next month, and all year long.

Shanah tovah!