Rabbinic Reflections: It’s your call

Let’s reschedule Rosh HaShanah. I know the calendars all say that it begins tonight and will stretch through Tuesday; after all, it is also known as yoma arichta (the long day). Rosh HaShanah is too early this year; it is too hot still, and school has barely started. We should reschedule it.

To be clear, the ancient rabbis said we can. In fact, in one infamous case, they started Rosh HaShanah on the wrong day. In that instance, the head of the rabbinical council accepted the testimony of two witnesses who said they “saw” the new moon.

That is not much to go on for our rescheduling the Jewish New Year. The case is infamous, though, because the ruling allowed that head to force his calendar-calculating colleague to appear before the council on what his colleague calculated should be Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). The rabbis record Rabbi Akiva interpreting a verse from the Torah to make the appearance acceptable to the colleague; he taught that Leviticus 23:4 shows that God’s appointed times are declared by us. God might have commanded us to mark Rosh HaShanah, but we decide when. It is our call.

Realistically, no one is going to change their calendar to list Rosh HaShanah on another day. We might, though, partake of holiday traditions some other time other than Sunday night, Monday, or Tuesday. Apples dipped in honey taste good all the time. Round challot (more than one challah bread loaf) are more interesting, especially if sweetened for a sweet new year with raisins, or something else, and are available for weeks around now. New Year’s cards, wishes, and ads go to press and mailboxes well before now and often come out after Rosh HaShanah is long gone. We can and we do celebrate Rosh HaShanah on many days other than what the calendar says.

Of course, most Jews are likely to celebrate Rosh HaShanah at the “appointed times” on the calendar. As I indicated above, the celebration is easy and accessible. On the other hand, Rosh HaShanah’s more challenging aspects are precisely what many of us might like to put off if we dare.

Those round challot represent not just sweetness or a full year come round, they also represent God’s crown that we need for renewing God’s coronation as King of King of Kings. Are we ready to beholden to a Divine Monarch? Are we ready to be judged by the Judge? Can we cede any authority over our lives to the calendar let alone God?

It is our call whether to make Rosh HaShanah a New Year or just another holiday. We often miss out on Shabbat even though the rabbis say God declares it each week. Will we miss out on seeing ourselves as creatures, as part of Creation, as intimately connected to everything around us just because the date of Rosh HaShanah is inconvenient or the challenge is too hard?

This year, I am declaring that I am not ready and that I am willing to go with the calendar; to go to synagogue; to see what the liturgy, the sermon, the music, and especially the shofar will move me to do; and to try letting God be Ruler in my life. Rosh HaShanah is on the calendar for tonight. You can show up for real, you can also reschedule. It’s your call.

About Rabbi Jeremy Winaker

Rabbi Jeremy Winaker is the executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Hillel Network, responsible for West Chester University, Haverford, Bryn Mawr, and other area colleges. He is the former head of school at the Albert Einstein Academy in Wilmington and was the senior Jewish educator at the Kristol Hillel Center at the University of Delaware for four years. Rabbi Winaker lives in Delaware with his wife and three children.

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