By Laura Seymour
The most asked question of the Jewish year is: Are the holidays early or late this year? Our Jewish calendar as a “solarluni (or lunisolar)” calendar means that we change the months by the moon but need to keep our holidays in certain seasons. This year has been a Jewish leap year (an extra month of Adar added back in March/April) so this year the holidays are late! So we are now planning our year with our holidays coming in October!
Yet, the most wonderful thing about Jewish life is how we mark the days, the weeks, the months and especially the moments. Shabbat is the most important holiday in Jewish life and in the Torah we are told two times — once to remember and once to observe. Yes, there are “rules” on the details but each of us can take those commandments and choose both how to observe and remember BUT DO SOMETHING! We say Shabbat is about rest, yet it is it really about stepping back and stopping the daily work and reflecting. So the message is that however you do Shabbat — just do it!
We are in the middle of the month of Av with the sad days culminating in Tisha B’Av past and a moment of fun (and romance) for Tu B’Av as we get ready for the month of Elul, which is really to get ready for the month of Tishri and the High Holidays. Then we have the whirlwind of Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah. The beginning of the year is filled with celebration and reflection. Although we don’t celebrate with New Year’s Eve parties and New Year’s resolutions, we actually have those components within our holidays. In fact, the resolution part is really important as we look to grow in the coming year.
As we mark the weeks and the months with holidays, marking the days and the moments is equally important and, of course, there is a Jewish way of doing that. We say blessings (rabbis said 100 a day) to remind ourselves to be thankful many times each day from waking up to going to sleep. Do you need to know the specific blessing to say? No, but if you want to, there is an app for that. “The Power of Moments” by Chip and Dan Heath shows us how and why moments are remembered — both the good and the bad — and how to make moments count. One of the best blessings in the Jewish multitude of blessings is the Shehecheyanu blessing. There are specific times when we are supposed to say it but can we use it at other times? Of course — even though it isn’t traditional. Here is the blessing:
Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech ha’olam, Shehecheyanu v’kiyemanu v’higiyanu lazman hazeh. Blessed are You, O Lord Our G-d, King of the Universe, Who has kept us alive and sustained us and brought us to this time.
The blessing is thanking G-d for the moment and celebrating and marking the moment. There are so many of these moments; they don’t need to be big ones and they can be personal ones. A baby sleeps through the night, a 5-year-old loses a tooth, a teen goes off to college, a promotion at work, a vacation and so many more moments. Take this blessing and post it somewhere or put it on your phone to have ready. And more, don’t wait for the moments — make them happen. When you wake up each day, say, “I’m going to make this day a Shehecheyanu day!”
Laura Seymour is Jewish experiential learning director and camp director emeritus at the Aaron Family JCC.