Shana Tova to you all!
Yup, it's that time of year again when we dip apple in honey and wish each other a happy and sweet New Year (Shana Tova is the usual greeting).
Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) is not an excuse for a big booze up like the regular New Year, and in fact is pretty much right at the other end of the scale. We reflect, we contemplate, we pray, we repent for our sins during the past year and we hope and pray for a good judgment from God over the next 10 Days (The Ten Days of Penitence). These are the days during which we are judged for the coming year and the hope is to be inscribed in the Book of Life for the year to come.
Despite the solemnity it is my favourite time of the year as far as our festivals go and the services over Rosh Hashanah (it lasts for two days) and for Yom Kippur (the last of the ten days) are really quite sublime. This year though is a bit of an odd and difficult one for me. The Sunday just gone would have been my mum's birthday, yeaterday was six months since I lost my wonderful uni friend Elaine, and tomorrow, the first day of the New Year, would have been her birthday. I'm missing her so much tonight and I think some of tomorrow's synagogue service may be tough.
In other news, I have a small part time job doing some music industry admin work for a friend but it's keeping me occupied and giving me a little bit of money so it's all good. I also managed to fix my iPod with a simple software update.
I hope everyone is keeping well and a big o_O at this year's Strictly line-up.
Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) is not an excuse for a big booze up like the regular New Year, and in fact is pretty much right at the other end of the scale. We reflect, we contemplate, we pray, we repent for our sins during the past year and we hope and pray for a good judgment from God over the next 10 Days (The Ten Days of Penitence). These are the days during which we are judged for the coming year and the hope is to be inscribed in the Book of Life for the year to come.
Despite the solemnity it is my favourite time of the year as far as our festivals go and the services over Rosh Hashanah (it lasts for two days) and for Yom Kippur (the last of the ten days) are really quite sublime. This year though is a bit of an odd and difficult one for me. The Sunday just gone would have been my mum's birthday, yeaterday was six months since I lost my wonderful uni friend Elaine, and tomorrow, the first day of the New Year, would have been her birthday. I'm missing her so much tonight and I think some of tomorrow's synagogue service may be tough.
In other news, I have a small part time job doing some music industry admin work for a friend but it's keeping me occupied and giving me a little bit of money so it's all good. I also managed to fix my iPod with a simple software update.
I hope everyone is keeping well and a big o_O at this year's Strictly line-up.