It’s hard to believe that we’re already here: it’s the High Holidays! The season’s electrical bill makes me feel like they’ve come early this year, but as I’ve heard a rabbi say, “The holidays always come exactly on time!”
Be that as it may, it’s 90 degrees outside, and I can think of few things I want to do less than go apple-picking. This particular Jewish new year’s tradition is beloved by parents and children alike. What better to pair with your Rosh Hashanah honey than locally grown fruit that you harvested yourself? And it’s the perfect way to spend a brisk fall afternoon wearing sweaters!
The problem, though, is that it isn’t fall.
But the holidays always come exactly on time, so here are just a few ways to help your children celebrate the new year – and for these, there’s no charge per bushel.
Bake a round challah
Explanations for round challah at the High Holidays vary widely depending on who you ask. Some say it symbolizes the nature of God’s unending generosity, others that our challah should be as round as the wheel of the year, and my favorite: a round challah looks like a crown (put it on and you’ll agree), and such a great year as the one to come deserves to be treated like royalty.
Even more manifold than reasons for the shape of our challah are the recipes for said challah. Go find one. Better yet, ask for help in the kitchen and learn something new from a loved one, a neighbor or a friend.
Whether an elaborate weave or a simple curlicue, just make sure your round challah can roll like time itself — and don’t forget the raisins for a sweet new year!
Celebrate with simanim
I love a good pun, so imagine my delight when I first uncovered the severed front half of a trout, glassy eyes staring up at me from ice in a crystal bowl.
“May you be the head – and not the tail! Who wants to eat the eye!?”
Thank you, no.
The head of a fish is but one of the simanim, the symbolic foods, to be consumed at the new year, and so many of them are just like the first: pure and beautiful wordplay! Eating, praying and exercising your child’s symbolic thought processes all at once? That’s win-win-win! Break out the dates, leeks and heads of ram: it’s shofar time!
And speaking of shofars…
This is the perfect moment to buy a kazoo. Between the internet and your own lived experience, you could be teaching your children the shofar calls on kazoo before the day is out.
What a delightfully irritating activity. But don’t worry: you and your littles will break down in giggles long before your ears start to hurt.
Teshuvah through teamwork
Rosh Hashanah marks not only a fresh start for the year, but a fresh start for our souls, our nishamot. The order of the day is Teshuvah. It is the word for a deep and transformational repentance – a return to the path of holiness. It only starts with saying “I’m sorry.”
Invite a conversation with your family about who you are – as individuals and as a unit – and who you want to become in the new year. Check out the Jewish Federation of Kansas City’s PJ Library page. You’ll find a beautiful and practical question-by-question guide for getting started.
Write your own “Al Chet” (confession of sins)
This sounds like heavy stuff, but sitting shoulder to shoulder with your child as you work your way through an alphabet of sins is actually a real bonding experience. The A to Z list of ways we missed the mark can feel more personal than “for the sins we have committed against you…”
There is tremendous power and vulnerability in showing your children that you know you do things wrong. And what is this season about if not power and vulnerability?
Start with A and work your way to Z. Perhaps you “Avoided a needy co-worker,” “Bragged about my raise,” or “Cursed at another driver in front of my kid.” Your child probably “Annoyed my sister,” “Bragged about kickball” or “Cursed at my chores.”
Yes, apple-picking will just have to wait until Sukkot. After all, everything comes in its own time – it’s right there in Ecclesiastes. With the holidays coming exactly on time this year, I wish you and yours happy Rosh Hashanah.
