Tani waa kuu muhiim adiga. Fadlan aqri.
Ogeysiis! Importante para Usted, por favor léalo. Please read!
Announcements brought to you by Cultural Bridges of St. Joseph, a committee of Central Minnesota Community Empowerment Organization. We are dedicated to ease your transition into our community.
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by Julia Geller and Mark Geller
In Judaism, there are two days that are regarded as the holiest days of the year. This year, they fell at the end of September, in keeping with the Lunar calendar. These holy days are called Rosh Hashana (the new year) and Yom Kippur (the day of repentance).
These holy days call us to reflect on the past year and encourage us to think about what we want in the year to come. To begin the days of awe, Jews come together to celebrate Rosh Hashana, God’s creation of the world. On this day, both the prayer services and the traditional festive meals commemorate God’s gift of a new year, a chance for renewal. It is customary to dress in new attire and spend the day with family and friends, but most importantly to blow the Shofar. The Shofar is a ram’s horn that is blown as a musical instrument that calls Jews around the world to Rosh Hashana prayer. To add a little flavor, we dip apples in honey to signify a sweet and healthy new year.
In contrast to the excitement and celebratory nature of Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur is a somber day of atonement. It is a time for Jews to reflect on their misdeeds and to pray for forgiveness in order to be inscribed in the book of life. To demonstrate to God how committed Jews are, we fast for 26 hours and spend the day in prayer. Finally, at sundown we gather with family and friends to break the fast and declare the year’s holy days to be over.
For our family, as observant Jews in Central Minnesota, the High Holy Days are an opportunity for us to gather with our community, affirm our identity as Jews and strengthen our faith.
From our family to yours, L’shana Tova. Have a happy and healthy New Year.
contributed photo
Mark and Julia Geller
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If you have any questions, contact Juliana Howard at 715-791-8976 or Jamal Elmi at 320-310-2351.
