In an attempt to keep my Jewish heritage alive, we’ve started to celebrate more of the holidays, more consistently. Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, has always been a holiday I’ve enjoyed.
Growing up, we’d celebrate this holiday with a few of the traditional foods, apples and honey, and by going to Lake Michigan with my grandparents to throw the birds bread.
I don’t have an abundance of memories around this holiday. I remember my grandma telling me about it. I remember the calendar on their wall that started in September and how she explained that this is the New Year they celebrate. It always felt a bit special because it’s close to my birthday too.
But most of my memories growing up are around Hanukkah and Passover. Those were the two we always did no matter what. Where the other holiday celebrations would happen more sporadically.
I often feel like I don’t know what I’m doing.
After my grandparents died, I realized I didn’t want to let this part of myself completely fade away. But I feel I’m left in this place with not a lot of confidence or direction around where I’m going and where I want to go with it.
So we’re just taking it step by step. Last year and this year we did basically the same things. Here’s how we celebrate Rosh Hashanah:
- We eat apples with honey and challah bread.
- We visit a body of water for tashlich and throw bread into the water as we reflect about the last year, things we’re not proud of, and what we want to see “wash away” as we welcome a new year.
- Similar to tashlich, we do an activity with the kids that involves chalk. We write down things we want to “let go of” and wash the words away with a hose.
One major resource that I use is the 18doors website, specifically designed for interfaith families. I’ve found it to be hugely helpful in general as I navigate how all of this looks for myself and my family.
However you celebrated entering into year 5783, we hope it was a “sweet” one. Shana Tova!
For more posts on my interfaith experiences, click here.
