One spring day, when I was 9 years old, I was sitting at the table with my younger brother and his friend.

Feeling wise and mature, I began to teach the 4-year-olds:

Me: Hey guys, do you know what holiday is coming up?

My brother: Um…I don’t know.

Me: Could it be…Shavuot?

Friend: It can’t be Shavuot – we did that last year!

To be fair, he raised a good point. Why do we need the holidays every year?

With the High Holidays quickly approaching, this is an important idea to contemplate…

Rabbi Benjamin Blech explains that the word holiday is a combination of two shorter words – holy and day.

A holiday is a holy day because it interrupts the daily flow of our lives – a lot of times we’re just going and going…and we don’t stop to think. Holy days give us messages and reminders. 

The author Thomas LaMance observed “Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans”. 

In other words, we need to pause, check in and reflect. Holidays help provide us with various frameworks for these check-ins. 

Just like a map is a guide when you’re travelling on the road, a holiday is the signpost for travelling through time. 

We need maps so we don’t get physically lost.

We need holidays so that we don’t get spiritually lost. 

The Jewish year begins with Rosh Hashanah – literally the “head of the year”. 

The way we begin is significant – it sets the tone; it gives us momentum; it puts us on a particular path.

As we approach the first of the “Holy Days”, let’s think about how we might want to begin.

No matter what you have been through in the past year (and in the years prior), you have the chance to reflect, set goals, and pray to G-d to help you succeed.

Let’s begin with the belief that we can be our best selves…

What does that look like for YOU?

Shabbat Shalom,

Danielle and the JET Team