The other night, my family and I went out to a lake in Tecumseh for Rosh HaShanah. It’s like a family tradition with us, to go to a body of water of some sort, and throw bread in the water. I can’t even remember the name of the service; we’ve only done it with others once.
For those not in the know, the bread is supposed to represent our sins. We empty our pockets of sin, and throw it in the water where it is carried far away from us. This is in preparation for the ten days leading up to Yom Kippur, the day of Atonement.
Usually we’ve gone to a moving body of water; a river, a stream, or a lake with movement. This year, the water was like glass. No waves, no movement. I got a completely different experience. As I threw each piece of bread in, it disturbed the water, and well-defined ripples radiated out from it, growing fainter and fainter until they completely disappeared.
It kind of spoke to me… the water wasn’t just taking my sins downstream, for someone else to deal with, but was almost diffusing it… making it disappear.
The fish helped. We attracted lots of them. Anyhow, just felt like sharing. Happy New Year!
Wow, this is the first time I read about Rosh Hashanah traditions.
Happy new year to you too!
September 15th, 2007
I’m not Jewish, but I can imagine that the different movement of the water would give a different feeling. It’s something unexpected, and makes you look at it differently.
September 15th, 2007