‘Shana tova;’ Local Jewish community celebrates an unusual Rosh Hashanah

“Shana tova” means “to a good year” in Hebrew.

It’s a phrase that will be on the lips of Jews around the world starting at sundown tonight, when Rosh Hashanah – the Jewish New Year – begins.

Rosh Hashanah is a two-day-long celebration that usually features a communal meal. Symbol-rich elements of the meal include apples dipped in honey, to signify a “sweet beginning,” and round challah bread, representing the never-ending cycle of the years.

Leslie Mart, president of Temple B’Nai Israel in Tupelo, said COVID-19 has meant celebrating Rosh Hashanah in unconventional ways.

“Due to COVID and CDC guidelines, our indoor service has changed dramatically,” she said. “We’re limiting the service to 10 people, and we will stream it for everyone else via Zoom. We’ll condense the service to approximately one hour to avoid Zoom fatigue.”

Rosh Hashanah, which literally means “head of the year,” is based on Leviticus 23, where God instructs the Israelites: “On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of Sabbath rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blast.” (Lev. 23:23-24 NIV)

The “trumpet” to which the text refers is the traditional ram’s horn, or shofar. Mart said the blowing of the shofar is a key element of Rosh Hashanah.

“While blowing the shofar means many things, one purpose is to signify the start of Rosh Hashanah, which is the first of the 10 Days of Atonement,” she said. “The shofar is sounded to stir our conscience, to confront our past errors and return to God, who is ever ready to welcome the penitent.”

Polly Perler is a longtime member at Temple B’Nai and has been one of the congregation’s most reliable shofar soloists through the years.

“It’s easier with someone who’s played a brass instrument,” she said. “I’m a flute player, and this is totally, totally different.”

Perler said Temple B’Nai’s particular shofar has a solid pedigree.

“This horn is from Israel,” she said. “It’s an actual ram’s horn, and it’s really beautiful. We used to have a little short one, and it was impossible to blow. You’d blow your head off trying to blow it.”

Leslie Mart said the shofar blowing ceremony will take place this year on Sunday, to avoid breaking Sabbath law (blowing the horn constitutes work, which is forbidden on the Sabbath).

In addition to the shofar blowing, Mart said Temple B’Nai is incorporating a new element into this year’s celebration. For the first time in their modern temple history, they’ll hold a Tashlich service.

Mart explained the significance of the Tashlich service.

“Tashlich comes from a Hebrew word meaning ‘to cast,’” she said. “It refers to casting away our sins through this ancient custom. Special verses are recited next to a body of water, and afterwards the corners of one’s clothes are shaken out into the water and bread or pebbles are tossed into the water to symbolize casting away our sins.”

The service will be held 1 p.m. Sunday at Veterans Park in Tupelo.

Ron Baker is Temple B’Nai’s director of education. He said while Rosh Hashanah is meaningful on its own terms, it takes on greater significance as the lead-up to Judaism’s highest holy day: Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement.

“Rosh Hashanah is the beginning of the ‘Ten Days of Awe,’” Baker said. “It’s like the Christian season of Lent before Easter, but it’s even stronger. It’s 10 days to really make an effort to make amends for the sins you’ve committed in the past year.”

Baker said Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are ritual reminders of a central fact of human existence.

“Sin is a reality,” he said. “There’s an objective standard against which our behavior is judged. We know there are real sins between you and God and real sins between you and other people.”

Baker said when it comes to making amends with other people, the Torah offers guidance.

“Just like in the New Testament, you go to the person first,” he said. “If the person won’t forgive you, take another person with you. If they still won’t forgive you, you take the whole community. And if they still won’t forgive, then the community forgives you on that person’s behalf. You just have to do the best you can.”