Shana Tova!

 

[Delicious, from Alexander Henry's new Farmdale collection.] 

Shana Tova U'Metukah

{A Happy and Sweet New Year}

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, begins tonight. As someone who has always lived according to the school calendar (my working days were all spent in schools and universities as well), the new year beginning in the fall makes a lot of sense to me. New opportunities, new starts, new chances all fit with summer slipping into fall. Eating apples and honey and hearing the sounds of the shofar (a ram's horn blown like a trumpet of sorts) are two elements that mark the Jewish new year. The holiday lasts for 2 days (this year, Wednesday sundown through Friday sundown) and is both festive (lots of delicious food) and serious (symbolic casting away of sins).

Whether or not one focuses on sin in a religious sense, this new year, like others, is a time for taking stock, reflecting on the past, and moving toward the future. It's less about resolutions and more about resetting. I'm certainly pleased that I'm entering the new year with exams in the past and new projects (work and fun) in the future.