Tonight (Wednesday night), is the first night of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashana. I’m actually doing something for Rosh Hashana, which is a big deal. It’s the first time in a long time that I’ve done anything for a holiday, and it’s been even longer since I’ve done anything I felt good about for a holiday, especially a Jewish holiday. Especially one of the High Holy Days.
I’m getting together, by phone, with some of my friends and fellow students from my Nonviolent Communication (NVC) class. I’ve pulled together some poems and some ideas of things to discuss, and sent out a transliteration of the shechianu (in both the masculine and feminine). I’m actually looking forward to it!
It’s really nice to have this glimmer of joy. I appreciate that even though I’ve been so sick lately and experiencing so much grief (this is a hard time of year for me — a lot of bad things happened to me in October through December), I can still find some happiness and a sense of meaning.
If you want to read some of the wonderful poems we’ll be using for our gathering, here they are:
- Marge Piercy’s poem on tashlich, “Breadcrumbs” (unfortunately missing some line breaks)
- Marge Piercy’s poem, “Head of the Year” (the literal translation of “Rosh Hashana), also unfortunately with incorrect linebreaks
- “Untitled” by Judy Chicago (which should just be one stanza, without all those extra line breaks)
- “Untie” by Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg
- “From Blossoms” by Li-Young Lee
A sweet New Year to all.
-Sharon, the muse of Gadget, and Barnum, SDiT
After Gadget 
Loved the poems…thanks for sharing! Happy New Year!