The Jewish High Holidays; Getting Back To Our Roots

I have been thinking about writing this article for a couple of weeks, and had the hardest time figuring out exactly what I wanted to write about. I found a blog in the Huffington Post with several articles about the Jewish Holidays, and I realized just what that message needed to be. It is the feeling we get when we enter the synagogue on that first day of Rosh Hashanah. We come together as a community that one time of year. Seeing all of our childhood friends, our parents' friends, and feeling that sense of oneness with those we have grown up with and spent these same days each year, in this holiest of places. It is comforting, and warm inside, with that overwhelming sense of familiarity, and goodness. I love seeing the little kids dressed up in their prettiest, and best clothes, crying in the nursery  because their parents had to leave them to go to the main service. For a while, there has been an alternative, interactive service where more of the kids are welcome, and alot of the younger families can stay together, as the service is shorter. I was raised on the main service in the synagogue, and although I agree with the offering of the alternative service, I couldn't imagine leaving the service I have come to know, and giving up the familiar prayers and tunes I am so accustomed to. Things have changed over the years, as the kids grew up, and my parents moved away, but I will always remember that feeling at this time of year, and I can't imagine not being a part of this most treasured tradition. It is still important to get together with whatever family is here, to eat all the holiday favorites; matzoh ball soup, gefilte fish, chopped eggs, chopped liver (my fav) fresh challah, Manishevitz wine, baked chicken, and/or brisket with potatoes and carrots. I have such great memories of these holidays at my temple, as I am sure all of my fellow jews do, at their own respective synagogues.

As I mentioned before, it is a feeling of oneness with each other as a community, and a feeling of kindness towards each other, as well. In this confusing time we live in today, with everyone split on basic issues, it is so important that we remember that we need to be there for each other; looking past ourselves, in an effort to take care of each other, and feel each others' needs and sensitivities.The Kabbalists have the right idea that kindness towards our community, and taking care of each other, as opposed to only caring about ourselves, is what makes us complete as human beings, and can take us to that higher level of success in our lives personally, and professionally.  We all have successes and failures in various aspects of our lives. We want to find that road to completeness, in an effort to be the best that we can be. It will come naturally if we look past ourselves, and embrace kindness and compassion for each other. In the words of King David “the world is built on kindness.” We can contribute to, and celebrate our own successes by being part of others' successes..

Rosh Hashanah falls on the Hebrew date 1 Tishrei 5773. Be happy as you start this new year, knowing that you are reaching for the highest power there is; kindness towards all, and caring, and comforting those around you. Feel the power as you hear the Shofar blow, ringing in the new year, and a start to new beginnings.

A common greeting on Rosh Hashanah is shana tovah u'metukah, Hebrew for "a good and sweet new year."

“L'shanah tovah friends and family, and very best to all.
May this new year move us all toward a healing of ourselves and our world for greater peace, health, and happiness.”

Happy New Year!!

Oh How I Love Great Theater

Last weekend the majority of my family and me went to Boston to visit my son. He was playing the lead in his first mainstage play at BU so this was very exciting for all of us, especially him. We got to see the last 2 performances and 3 other plays that his CFA pals were in. They were all amazing and their performances were as good as I have seen on broadway; to quote my dad.

I was truly impressed with the immense energy that was expressed on stage throughout all of the performances we saw. They were extremely physical and you could see that the energy level had to be at its highest to pull off the best performance. It made my adrelin flow just being part of the audience. In my son 's play part of the audience was even on stage as part of the jury. It was very exciting. You would never think of theater as being a great workout but believe me, it is. If you have any interest in trying it out you definitely should. It is a great, healthy outlet for anyone, and entertaining an audience can be such a rush. I loved being part of theater in high school and actually started taking some classes in college but I chose to go the conventional route. I am so happy that both of my kids decided to include theater in their lives.

The other great part of the weekend was that it was in Boston. I have come to love this city. Each time I go I find a new sites to explore, and each section is more exciting than the last, it seems. This time we stayed in Copley, which has really nice hotels, and prime stores, such as TheTannery, Lord & Taylor, The Lindt Chocolate Store (OMG), etc. You know, high end. We stayed there to be close to the Boston Center for Arts, where my son performed. We didn't really walk to much due to the cold weather, but we did our share. One thing I love about the city is how much everyone walks. I remember my son coming home last summer and asking me to walk to the pizza place down the street with him instead of driving. I never really thought about it, but in our area we do not walk, we drive. We walk when we are excercising but not in our every day commute. He loves walking everywhere and in that great city, if you have to go to far you can always take the "T" (train/subway). I venture to say that people who live in big cities such as Boston, New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, even Washington DC are much healthier due to the constant walking in their every day commute. They do not consider this part of their workout routine and I'm sure they continue to include some type of gym workout, or exercise routine in their lives. Hence, they are getting a double to triple workout.

Just some other little tidbits about my life and how all life's experiences have some sort of physical activity connected to it. Experiencing theater and the adrelin rush that comes with it, for both the actor and the audience is truly an exhilarating feeling, and this is just another example of what I consider "HEALTHY".

Loving Theater in Boston