Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, starts at sunset tonight!
Wishing all of my readers a happy and "sweet" new year in 5766!
Wishing all of my readers a happy and "sweet" new year in 5766!
It seems to be a common notion, perpetuated by movies like Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments and Disney's Prince of Egypt , that Moses grew up as a high-level member of Pharaoh's household with no idea that he was a Hebrew. But does that notion fit in with what it says in the Bible, or what Jewish tradition teaches about Moses? This week's Torah portion is Shemot, the beginning of the book of Exodus, so it's a good time to examine this question. We actually know very little about Moses' childhood from the Bible. Pharaoh had ordered all male children to be thrown into the Nile River at birth (Ex. 1:22). While that order was in effect, a boy was born to a man of the tribe of Levi and his wife, also of that tribe (Ex. 2:1-2). The parents are later identified (Num. 26:59) as Amram an Yocheved (that "ch" is pronounced like a throat-clearing noise). Yocheved could not bear to throw her beautiful new son to his death, so she hid him away for three mont...
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Question - have you heard that you should keep the etrog and lulav until Pesach? I just heard that but could not find anything on the net (yet) to substantiate it or to say why or what you do with it on Pesach.
Any ideas?
It has long been customary to save the lulav until Pesach for use as kindling. In times when people made their own matzah, rabbis suggested using the lulav to fuel the fire for baking matzah. Today, it is more commonly used to fuel the fire for burning chametz before Pesach. But you can also use it to fuel and ordinary fire --after a few months, it makes good kindling.
The etrog can be eaten. The peel is good for any candied citrus peel recipe. There isn't much pulp inside an etrog (ever wonder why it's so light relative to its size? It's all rind!), but the pulp can be used in place of lemon juice in recipes. A few years ago, I tried planting the seeds, and one of them took root -- I now have a 6-foot high etrog tree in my living room! I'll have to post some pictures.
But Rosh Hashanah, though more solemn than American New Year, is still a joyous holiday. It is conceived of as the annual renewal of the coronation of the Divine as Sovereign of the Universe, and the coronation of a sovereign is always a time for joy. But once the coronation is over, the King settles down to business and metes out justice. That's where Yom Kippur comes into play: the Divine's judgment, and our prayers and repentence to reduce the sentence, if you will. Once justice has been done, it's time for celebration once again, and that's Sukkot! As I write this, it is the last day of Sukkot.
Hag = Festival
Sameah = Joyous, happy, etc.
It's more commonly spelled chag sameach because the "h" in each of the words is the Hebrew letter Chet, which is pronounced like a throat-clearing noise, as in the German "Ach!" or the Scottish "Loch" or Mad Magazine's "Yechhhh!", but it's the same letter that begins the word "Chanukkah," which is often spelled "Hanukkah" (or dozens of other ways...)
How's that for a segue into the next Jewish holiday?
My husband and I agreed to drop the "chet" sound in favor of an "Americanized" "ah". I hope that doesn't affect the meaning.
Thank you again, you have found a faithful reader for life.