Jewish New Year celebrated with sweets, family
By ELENA GRIMM egrimm@daily-chronicle.com
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| Gary Schwartz (left) and Rabbi Mikki Mendelsohn retire the Torah on Friday after the Rosh Hashanah service at NIU. (Beck Diefenbach – bdiefenbach@daily-chronicle.com) |
Ashley Rifkin gets to go home for the holidays.
This rarely happens for Jewish college students like Rifkin, a senior at Northern Illinois University and president of the Jewish student club, Hillel.
But this year, the Jewish High Holy Days fall on the weekends. They began at sundown Friday with Rosh Hashanah and end Sept. 28 with Yom Kippur.
"It's the opening," Rifkin said of the two holiest days of the Jewish faith. "School just started. Not only is it a new year for school, but you're starting off on a clean slate."
Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is celebrated with family gatherings, special services and sweet foods. It's followed 10 days later by Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the most solemn day of the Jewish year.
But the holidays are usually a hard time of year for students away at college, Rifkin said, because they can't go home.
"Kids like to take the opportunity to go home to their families and celebrate with their families," she said. "It's the celebration of the new year, which is very big."
DeKalb's synagogue Beth Shalom is holding High Holy Days services on the NIU campus – but without the usual presence of students. Services are held in the Holmes Student Center each year because the synagogue cannot fit all who attend, said Missy Garman, president of Congregation Beth Shalom.
Family is a central part of the holidays. While her aunt is hosting the meal, Rifkin's role each year is cooking the noodle kugel, a sweet casserole dish.
A special bread called the challah, which is traditionally eaten every Sabbath and holiday, is formed into a circle on Rosh Hashanah, symbolizing the life cycle of the year.
Sweet foods, like apples and honey, are also served to symbolize a "sweet new year," said Elizabeth Bass, who lives in DeKalb.
"Apples are traditional at Rosh Hashanah," she said. "They're seasonal, and secondly, they're round, and that symbolizes the year coming round."
These sweets were enjoyed by those at Friday night's Rosh Hashanah service, where a kiddush followed.
"There's a wonderful Yiddish word – schmooze – to talk, to wish each other a happy new year," Bass said. "It's also, when you think about it, our lives go on more of a September to September calendar. You haven't seen people as much over the summer, so it's a chance to see each other."
All symbolism aside, the High Holy Days that Jews around the world celebrate have their roots straight from scripture.
"You should celebrate the new year on the first day of the seventh month," said Avi Bass, Elizabeth's husband. "The new year celebration is a happy day, then the Bible says on the 10th day of the month, you shall have a day of repentance."
When asked why such a happy occasion is followed closely by one of solemnity, the Basses said it's just what has been traditionally passed down from scripture.
"It's just like Good Friday is followed by Easter," Elizabeth Bass said, comparing the Christian religious holidays to that of Judaism. "But for totally different reasons."
