Rosh Hashanah
A dialogue with Elie Wiesel
(Written on 2nd October)
Today begins the two days of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. The day recalls God’s creation of humankind when the universe was awakened into being by the divine breath.
It’s hard to reconcile such a celebration with images of missiles raining down on Israel last night, the dread of what Israel will do in retaliation, and the continuing escalation of violence in a region where there has already been too much innocent suffering, too much destruction and sorrow.
(From the Singulart website): Tashlich is a special prayer that Jews perform on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, in front of a water source. They symbolically cast their sins into the water, hoping to start the new year with a clean slate, free from guilt and wrongdoing. The painting depicts Jewish men and women praying the Tashlich prayer by the river bank.
Sometimes it’s impossible to decipher meaning or purpose in the violence that seems t…