Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year starts at sundown on Wednesday September 12, 2007 on the first day or (for obscure and boring reasons) the first two days of the Jewish month of Tishri. Public School, just opening for children as I type (teachers and principals started last week), will be closed for Thursday & Friday creating a four-day weekend, headaches for the parents of young children, and mischief opportunities for teenagers.

For lefties like me, the first and most important celebration will be at 5PM in front of the Jefferson Market Courthouse Library (6th Ave & 10th Street, Manhattan) where on Wed. 9/12, people will honor the memory of the late, great poet, peace protester Grace Paley with a peace vigil. Bring pots and pans to beat upon.

Being a Jewish holiday, it is fraught with opportunities for confusion and bad feelings (“broygus” in Yiddish). In the first place of course, in the time-honored tradition of two Jews, three opinions, there is more than one Jewish New Year. (The other one occurs in the Spring at Passover) In the second place, Jews, even secular, non-observant Jews like me, often want to go to synagogue on Rosh Hashanah. Synagogue administrators know this and cash in by charging us non-members very high prices to listen to people chant in a language we don’t understand. (They call them the high holidays for a reason, right?). The practice of congestion pricing for Rosh Hashanah was discussed recently on JSPOT, the blog of the Jewish Funds For Justice [1] where many supported the surcharge practice.

As it happens, not everyone tries to soak Rosh Hashanah Jews. More Orthodox synagogues often don’t. For example at 10 Clinton Street on Manhattan Lower East Side, Chasam Sopher [2] says they welcome all, no charge. Perhaps more heimishe for lefties like me, the Workmen’s Circle/Arbeter Ring [3] holds Wednesday (9/12) night dinner and Thursday (9/13) Morning services in a secular tradition at prices well below many congregations ($36 for non-members, $18 students). I've been before and liked the service. Secular Jews and others interested in exploring Rosh Hashana issues may want to show up this Wednesday September 5, 2007 at 7:30 at the Society For The Advancement of Judaism, 15 West 86th Street, NY, NY. There, Rabbi Peter Schweitzer, will discuss a secular approach to the high holidays (rsvp required: 212-213-1002).

Rosh Hashanah, literally the“first of the year,” is called in the Bible the Day of Remembering or the Day of the Ram’s Horn. It comes on the first days of the seventh month. It and Yom Kippur are really one set of holidays which together offer people to examine their relationships with others and fix them. We’re called on to think about others we have harmed during the year, to apologize for wrongs we’re done and to resolve to do better next year. This is a period during which we judge ourselves.

We eat apples and challah dipped in honey.

We listen to the Shofar, a ram’s horn. If you, as I may, boycott synagogue, make sure to ask one of the many wandering Chasidim to play the Shofar for you Thursday afternoon. It’s a pattern of short, long and medium notes and a trip not to miss and, for them, it's a mitzvah to play the Shofar.

We throw bread crumbs in a near-by river or stream in a very weird, non-biblical but fun ceremony of trying to rid ourselves of our sins called “Tashlich” One Tashlich service I've been to and liked is run by the The Village Temple [4] a reform outfit. This year it will be held at 4 PM at West 10th Street and the Hudson River on Thursday September 13. It is open to the whole community. No tickets. No charge. No kidding.

My favorite religion-oriented radio programSound & Spirit [5] exiled from WNYC, has two Rosh Hashana programs which you can listen to online: "A Door Is Opened" & and "Fathers & Sons." The latter, about the story of the sacrifice of Isaac, is especially great. Click here [6] which brings you to the alphabetical program list; then hunt and click.

The traditional greeting “L’shana Tovah” (A Good Year) is a shortened version of the full for me harder to pronounce greeting "L'shanah tovah tikatev v'taihatem" (May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year).

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