Atlanta Celebrates Rosh Hashanah
The Atlanta Jewish community celebrated Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, on Sept. 29, 2019. Rosh Hashanah is one of many holidays to mark the year, with others being in the spring and winter. According to Chabad, the others are celebrations of leaving Egypt and the life cycle of fruit-bearing trees.
This year will be 5780 in the Jewish calendar, which is based on the lunar cycle rather than the solar one. The new year is celebrated in the fall because it marks the anniversary of the creation of the universe in the Jewish faith. People celebrate Rosh Hashanah by attending services and enjoying family dinners with apples and honey to symbolize a sweet new year.
“Shanah tovah” is the customary greeting for Rosh Hashanah, meaning “Good year.” Ten days after Rosh Hashanah, the High Holidays culminate with Yom Kippur, The Day of Atonement.
Rabbi Joe Prassfrom the Breman Museum said, “We do an evening service and a morning service reading from the Torah and using a lamb’s horn called a shofar.”
Jewish people spend this time in prayer and thought. Much of the holiday is based on bettering the self for the coming year.
Rabbi Ari Kaiman from Shearith Israel said, “What [Rosh Hashanah] means for us is reflection and introspection to see how we are in ourselves compared to last year. The whole month for Rosh Hashanah is the time that we begin the process known as cheshbon hanafesh, which means ‘taking account of one’s soul.’ And every morning we blow [the shofar] to [remind us] that the season’s coming (…) So, strangely, all of this seems really solemn and serious, and it is, but it also has this element of joy and celebration. So, we have time that Jews everywhere really show up to be present for our religious rituals.”
On sharing the meaning of Rosh Hashanah, Rabbi Kaiman said, “I think that religion in general is a beautiful part of the human experience. We have stories to help shape and add meaning to life, so this is a different take than we have the right story and you have the wrong story. There’s a lot of really good stories out there. And understanding the way that we think, if we understand the tapestry of the world in a beautiful way, it’s to be able to understand people and recognize the power of their story.”
The nearest synagogue to SCAD is The Temple, located across the street from the main building. Directly adjacent to the new dorm Forty is the Breman Museum whose “goal is to preserve and disseminate reliable information about Jewish history and culture.”
