SPIRITUAL GUIDANCE:Rosh Hashanah full of meaning, tradition

Rosh Hashanah is the Creation of the World. It is a time to recreate ourselves by recognizing our faults, repenting and asking forgiveness from others for our sins, all leading to atonement, granted by God for our actions.

Repentance involves knowing ourselves and changing to what God wants usto become. The major part of Rosh Hashanah is finding our real selves and achieving our goals in life, practicing mitzvot, good deeds for all.

The process of trying to find our potential in life never ends. Every year it starts, again and again on Rosh Hashanah. Did we reach our goals last year? Can we modify them next year? The process begins now. Part of being Jewish is knowing that we are Holocaust survivors and of an assimilated Jewish community today. Each Jew is part of the culmination of a long historical process of the surviving remnant of a 4,000-year-old heritage focusing on morality and ethics (social justice).

Where do Jews fit in? Where is eachon this road map called life? Every Jew must answer these questions as the new year begins. Rosh Hashanah is a look into the mirror of our bodies to see our soul, what we are made of spiritually. More questions for Rosh Hashana come to mind.

Who am I really as a person? You can lie to others, but not yourself.

What gives me joy in life?

What are you doing when the world plays you? Do you play it? How do you respond to tragedy or disaster? Do you drink your coffee? When cruelty occursthe amoral person does not care enough about others’ suffering and death.

Above all, Rosh Hashanah is a day to feel the closeness to your soul, people and God. The most important question: Do you do something different (holy) beginning today to improve the quality of your life and others’? You are a Creation of God, created in God’s Divine Image, which began on Rosh Hashanah. As Nike says, “Just Do it!” Become a better person. These thoughts embody of Rosh Hashanah. On Yom Kippur, the Day of Judgment, God decides whether I earn another day and year to accomplish the above.