Religious Education Update: October 5, 2008

The High Holy Days

Last Tuesday, I attended my first Rosh Hashanah dinner. Six of us sat around a delicious feast of roasted chicken and vegetables and toasted each other with wishes for a sweet new year. Later, we had Honey Cake, made from the recipe my host’s grandmother had used for many years.

The Jewish High Holy Days occur during the harvest season in California, and I felt filled with gratitude for the gifts of the earth as I ate. My personal contribution to the feast was several varieties of apples from Florence Strange’s orchard. I had picked the apples, but Florence had raised them with her loving hands. I felt gratitude for her generosity and her green thumb.

The feast had a family feeling, as a mother and her daughter spoke of past Rosh Hashanah meals. We also felt the strong bonds of friendships, as we promised mutual support for the challenges of the coming year.

I wasn’t raised in a Jewish family, so my knowledge of the Jewish holidays has been mostly academic. In sharing a dinner with my friends, I gained an appreciation for the family traditions, as well as for the bonds of support and caring that can be part of observance. On previous occasions, Mike Iritz, Ellen Beeler and Karen Mitchell have shared the meanings that Jewish holidays have brought to their lives with all of us at UUP. These personal heartfelt sharings are very special gifts to all of us: children, youth and adults.

L’shanah tovah!

Marlene Abel
Director of Religious Education