Rosh Hashanah - Blessings For A New Year

...."take advantage of one ancient tradition's ideas and practices to relocate the person you most want to be and enjoy the renewal and liberation that come from finding that person once again." - Rabbi Hirschfield


This time feels ancient, sacred,and primal to me. I am enjoying a moment of reflect and the resonance of the Rabbi's words.  


Excerpts below and quote above are from an excellent article in the Huffington Post by Brad Hirschfield entitled -Rosh Hashanah 2010: Liberate Yourself, Renew Your Life and Help Others Do the Same:


In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe complete rest, a sacred occasion commemorated with loud (horn) blasts. Leviticus 23:24


Rosh Hashanah 2010, the Jewish New Year, begins at sundown on September 8th. And while it marks the turn of Jewish calendar year 5770 to 5771, it also celebrates the fundamental human need for liberation, return and renewal.


The Jewish holidays, especially Rosh Hashanah, are not only for Jews. In fact, they celebrate the most basic human quest -- the quest to make our lives richer, happier and more productive. They also invite us to think about how to help others achieve the same things.


Without ignoring the centrality of our own happiness and fulfillment, these holidays, especially Rosh Hashanah, remind us that we humans share a common past, present and future -- that we, in the widest sense, are in this together.


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Rosh Hashanah invites us to do the same thing -- to be free to return to our holding, to what we feel is most deeply our own, to be the person we most deeply feel we ought to be, not the one we may have become due to the inevitable complexities of life. Rosh Hashanah reminds us that is the person we really are, and that if we stop long enough to remember who that person is, and to get reacquainted with that person, we can be that person. In fact, it is our destiny to be so, no matter what others may say or how often life seems to get in the way.


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So this Rosh Hashanah, whoever you are, and wherever you may be, take advantage of one ancient tradition's ideas and practices to relocate the person you most want to be and enjoy the renewal and liberation that come from finding that person once again. Here's how.


1. Go Back To The Beginning - Imagine that you are actually the first person in the world, that it was created for you. Who do you want to be, regardless of who others expect you to be? What is it that you want to accomplish? Experience? Create?


2. Take Stock Of What You Have - What values, relationships, skills or possessions do you value most and how can they help you achieve that for which you hope?


3. Repair What Is Broken - Reach out to those whom you may have hurt. Seek their forgiveness. Even if they are not ready to grant it, seeking it will help you move forward.


4. Offer Forgiveness - You need not forget the past, but the more able you are to forgive those who have hurt you in the past, the freer you will be of the pain they have caused.


5. Taste Something Sweet - Take a moment to savor something delicious, something that reminds you that even if life is not always sweet and good, we can always find something which is.


6. Make A Plan - Create two lists to carry with you this year. On the first, list a few things to which you feel genuinely entitled and treat yourself accordingly. On the second, list a few things you feel truly obligated to do for others, whether it's convenient or not.


7. Take It Slow - Our lives are all a work in progress. Often that progress is slow, sometimes we stand still, and we even slip backward from time to time. When that happens, simply return to step one.

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