When I returned to New York, I immediately returned to the synagogue where I had become a Bat Mitzvah and joined the Torah study group that meets every Shabbat morning. I was welcomed back with open arms by the Rabbi and the congregation. Though I have two jobs and am going to school full time, I always take time to attend the group and the services that follow. We eat bagels and joke around in Yinglish (our own blend of Yiddish and English) while studying the history of our people, debating textual issues, and interpreting the Torah’s commandments for righteous living. The synagogue is instant community; and I had felt so lost without it. When I attend each week, I feel completely renewed, firmly rooted in a shared faith and identity.
This past Saturday, the rabbi shared with us some thoughts about the coming holiday that really enhanced my own feelings towards it. He drew attention to the fact that Rosh Hashanah, alone among the Jewish holidays, is celebrated at the new moon rather than the full. He then went on to give an explanation from Reb Aryeh Leib of Ger (1847-1906). Reb Leib posits that since, during the new moon, celestial light is hidden from us, we draw instead upon the light within ourselves: “For every Jew [on Rosh Hashanah] there is illumination by the hidden light of goodness, that ‘light is sown for the righteous,’ which lies hidden within.” Rosh Hashanah allows us, as Jews, to discover new aspects of ourselves. As I step up to the bima, I will be celebrating my own self-discovery as a Jew and taking my rightful place within this rich community and tradition.
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