Rosh Hashana 2008

From Guest Blogger, Jill Miller Zimon:

I don’t know how they do it. No, not super-moms or our candidates for president and vice president. I’m talking about our clergy – rabbis, pastors, priests – and how, week after week, they write and deliver motivational, inspirational and poignant sermons to us. And each sermon, one for each week during all the years of their service, has to be different (we’ll ignore what clergy do if they switch congregations – I’m going to hope that they don’t recycle).

Now, we know, no matter what religion we follow, that there are only so many stories in the Old Testament (aka the Five Books of Moses aka the Torah) and the books that follow. And we cycle through them every year. Rosh Hashana, although the holiday for the Jewish New Year, isn’t actually the holiday that celebrates returning to the beginning of the Torah – that’s Simchat Torah which will occur later in October.

But still, the same exact portions of the Torah come to pass at the exact same time of year, ever year. So how do they do it? How do our clergy find inspiration anew every new year, and especially in these more recent years when it feels as though a life that should be getting easier is getting more fraught with uncertainty?

Three of the themes I’ve heard used over and over – with varying degrees of success - are sports analogies, “Old Country” anecdotes followed by application to modern times, and current events. For example, the events on Wall Street and in our American political life are replete with lessons about greed and power, who wants what and how much of either or both.

If you want to get a taste of just how moving and uplifting these reflections can be, feel free to browse my clergy’s High Holy Day sermons that are posted on our synagogue’s website (you can see them here). Also, if you surf the web, you can find other examples of sermons given by Jewish clergy during the entire year as well as at the time of the High Holy Days. Here are three related websites with information about and actual examples of sermons:

• From Congregation Beth Am in California
• From How Does a Rabbi Prepare a Sermon?
• A book comprised of a rabbi’s sermons

With my alter-ego political blogger on overload right now, I know I could use a good sermon, and not from my kids or my spouse but, absolutely, from my rabbi. I’m guessing you might feel the same way, no?

L’shanah Tovah Tikatavu!

______________

Rosh Hashana begins at sunset on Monday (September 29).

For more information on Rosh Hashana, see:

All About Rosh HaShanna, from Lisa Katz, the About Guide to Judaism

More Traditional Recipes and Menus for Rosh HaShanna, from Giora Shimoni, the About Guide to Kosher Foods

The traditional greeting for Rosh Hashanna is L' shanah tovah, literally "good year." To Jill, her family, and all of About.com Cleveland's Jewish readers, L'Shana Tova.