đđŻâ¨ LâShana Tova, sweet unique holy souls!
As the sun sets, Iâm kicking off this significant month of Tishrei in a way Iâm beyond excited for: sending you timely high-holiday musings, reflections, and prompts for you to use however youâd like in the coming high holidays.
Youâre going to hear from me a few times in the next week (and then some)! Attached youâll see The Monthly Thing, specifically for Tishrei. In the body of this email is a 3-for-1 special: three days of prompts for Rosh Hashanah (starting tonight and through sundown on Tuesday, Sept 27th).
On Wednesday, Iâll be back to my email and will pick up on this daily message. Until then, Iâm wishing you and yourâs some sweetness in this new year!
Stay sweet,
Rabbi Tova
For tonight, September 25th
Rosh Hashanah⌠the beginning of the new year. It is a day that we begin again in our Jewish calendar year and in our personal introspection. Rosh Hashanah, the day that the world was created, is a holiday that honors this moment as a reminder of the world as it was: undivided, a world of oneness. We return to that beginning, in order to begin again. We hear the shofarâs 100 blasts that, as Rabbi Nachman of Breslov claimed, is the bridge between us and the heavens. The spiritual alarm clock of the Jewish people is blasting and there are no more chances to hit SNOOZE. The gates of heaven are opening and angels are present. Together, we eat round challah, pile on the honey, eat symbolic foods of birth-renewal and see the possibilities for ourselves in this sweet new year.Â
Try this activity to sweeten things up!
Step One: With whatever crafting supplies youâve got (magazines, scissors, clue, crayons, etc), take a piece of paper and write out the words, phrases, or even doodles that capture this past year for you. Step two: Take another piece of paper and tune in to my spiritual alarm playlist. Envision the next year for yourself: Where are you going? What are you hoping to cultivate as an individual on a spiritual journey? Write out phrases or words that resonate. The world is being created⌠your world is being created, again. When youâre done, hang this somewhere to revisit over and over again.
For Monday, September 26th
The First Day of Rosh Hashanah | Itâs a Female Thing
Well, really we all have a divine feminine within us. In order to birth our world each year, it must begin with us and the stories of women and parents, never forgetting their struggles and journeys in fertility and parenting.
Our sages knew this truth because there is nothing more primal or universal than the stories of pregnancy, birth, and parenthood. In this, we have multiple pathways of engaging with the human condition. Take a moment to reckon with this truth and understand how undoubtedly radical and rare it is for a patriarchal narrative to decide on the first day of the year to lift up the voices and stories of women and parenting. Yet, it is imperative that we see this and them as archetypes for us all while we are birthing our new year today.
SARAH | For struggling to have a baby of her own and turning to surrogacy with her maidservant, Hagar. Sarah then later is pregnant at the young age of 90 (woah) and does what any of us would do: laughs. I call her birth a symbol for our personal births that we are doing this season âbetter late than never.â
HAGAR | Surrogate for Sarah who ultimately is cast away by her family (by Sarah⌠remember when I told you they were imperfect, these heroes of ours?!) with her son, Ishmael. She is a single mother on her own without any help. She is ultimately saved and rewarded but in our text, we see her struggle and her complex relationship with Sarah. In this, I can see Hagarâs birth as a symbol for our personal births that we are doing this season, a lesson in surrender, and a reminder that âeven when itâs easy, it never is and sometimes we have to do it aloneâ.
HANNAH | Hannah is struggling to have a baby. Her husband, a priest, might as well have said, âarenât I enough for you, baby?â Hannah wanted more. Hannah prays for a baby at the Temple, an atypical thing to do at the time as a woman. She ultimately has a baby, his name was Samuel and he is important. But in this story, we see her struggle, desperation, pain, and yearning. Her birth is a symbol for our personal birthday that we are celebrating this season: âcrying with our full hearts and praying with our vulnerability, our anger, our doubt is going to build us as authentic humans needed for this world.â
ABRAHAM | The father that we model ourselves after is carrying a deadly weapon to kill his child for God. This lesson shows us that our children are more important and precious than any job, even if it is serving a mission grander than ourselves. Fathers are part of birthing this world and they ought to examine their role. Abrahamâs birth symbolizes the following so perfectly: âHold onto the precious ones. Parent them. Life is brief and we are nearly at death in each moment. We are all responsible caretakers.â
A question for youâŚ
So my dears, which one of these archetypes are moving you and calling you in your personal birth story today?
For Tuesday, September 27th
The sound of the shofar opens us up to listen for âthat still small voice.â In so, weâre asked to see the angels that are around us always, protecting and reminding us that we are alive and we are here. Hineni. I am here. In short, we can show up and say, âI am ready to listen to what you have to say to me. Just as Moses did at the Burning Bush, and Abraham did in order to save Isaac. Hineni.â It is this moment of being present that moves us into the moment before our lives change.
A journal prompt and activity for youâŚ
What is your Hineni moment for this year? Where are you and how are you showing up?Â
Play the sound of the shofar and listen inward. Then meditate using the word âHineniâ as your mantra. Listen and see what you discover.
For Wednesday, September 28thâŚ
Check your inbox! Iâll be there with the next dose of these daily prompts in this wildly meaningful and holy moment of our year. Until then!
The daily prompts Iâve prepared for this uber-busy month of celebration and introspection will be sent to those who have subscribed to my paid Substack. Your support in this and your commitment to deepening your own journey into spiritual reflection as a uniquely holy soul is something I appreciate and value so very much.