Last Thursday and Friday were Jewish New Year (or Rosh Hashana).
In the Jewish calendar it is now 5778.
Over the last decade I have helped with the running of the synagogue services at the Montefiore Aged Care facility in Hunters Hill on Sydney’s North Shore, known colloquially as “Monte”.
During that time I have added more and more to my list of duties, which I am bery pleased to be able to do.
This year I was “promoted” to the rank of Rabbi.
It was a result of the fact that the actual rabbi, Rabbi Rogut, and I bear a number of similarities; we’re both vertically challenged, we both have white goatees and (in this context) we both wear suits and hats.
As part of the festival meals there is a short blessing or form of grace said before the meal commences.
My new job this year, was to perform this blessing in a couple of the dining areas of the home, which is quite a large facility.
A number of things happened as part of that.
1. The staff in the dining room waited for me before they would serve the meals.
As meals are the highlight of the day for many of the residents, withholding them can be fraught with risk.
However, the staff did hold out.
2. The staff were very solicitous, respectful and willing to help me in any way they could.
While I am used to the experience of being well treated when going to a restaurant, this somehow felt a bit different and had a slight sense or being treated as royalty.
As someone who has always been an anti-royalist this was an intriguing and slightly disturbing experience.
While it did make me feel a bit uncomfortable I was stoic and accepted being treated as very special.
It’s something I think I could grow to like, but it would take me quite a while I think.
3. A number of people came up to me to ask for assistance with dying relatives.
This was not as comfortable as the royal treatment and I tried to be as helpful as I could without actually doing anything.
In an aged care facility with many very mature people the passing of someone is a regular event.
For some reason there seems to be a bit of a rush on this at this time of year.
In Jewish tradition this is a good time to die.
Since it’s something we must all get around to at some point, there are certain times when it’s felt that G-d is closer to us and passing over is a gentler process.
The period around Rosh hashana and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement, which this year is next Saturday) is probably the most propitious of these times.
It’s interesting how people seem to be able to decide when the right time to pass over is.
When my father passed away, a couple of years ago, he had been in a semi-comatose state for some time.
And yet somehow he knew that he and my mother’s 65th wedding anniversary was coming up and he waited for that.
The day after their anniversary he passed away.
And so it was, as I walked around the home, a couple of people came up to me to tell me that their grandfather was clearly about to pass away and could I come and say prayers.
All I could do was to reassure them that I would pass on the message to the real Rabbi, which I did, and wish them all the best for the upcoming trying time.
There is a traditional greeting for Rosh Hashana which is L’shana Tova.
It means “I wish you a good year”.
Some people add the word “U’metuka” which means “sweet”.
The message here is that whatever G-d sends us throughout the year is for our good so we must come to understand that every year is really a “good” year.
However, sometimes that goodness may come in an unpleasant form eg losing our job to make room for a better one to come to us.
At the time we don’t feel that this is a good thing until much later.
And so we add the extra piece to wish our friends that the goodness should come in a sweet and pleasant form.
I wish you all, whether Jewish or not, may you have a good and sweet year.