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THOUGHTS FOR THE NEW YEAR,
5763
by
Yoram Ettinger
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ROSH HASHANA, the
beginning of the year 5763, is the appropriate time to revisit our Roots,
Principles and Values (RPV is also the acronym for Remote Pilotless
Vehicle!). The more we distance ourselves from our RPV, the less stable is
our social, economic and security climate.
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ROSH HASHANA is the
MEMORIAL DAY for Jewish legacy and values. It commemorates the sixth day
of creation, which created Adam (Adam stands for the combination of Earth
and Blood as well as for the acronym of Abraham, David and Moses); the day
that Noah opened the Ark following The Flood; the day of Abraham’s ultimate
faith in God, when he was ready to sacrifice Isaac; the day of the laying of
the corner stone for the Second Temple; the day the Matriarchs Sarah and
Rachel and prophet Samuel’s mother, Hanna, were conceived; the initiation of
nature’s cycle (planting seeds and equality between Day and Night); the
first day of Ten Days of Atonement (until Yom Kippur); the day of personal
stock-taking!
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ROSH HASHANA is the
FIRST DAY OF THE JEWISH MONTH OF FISHERY, the month of creation (Borsht
is the Hebrew word for Genesis, and it consists of the same Hebrew letters
as “Aleph Banisher”, the first day of Tishrei), the month of the
powers of nature, the month of the birth of the Jewish Patriarchs, the month
of Justice and Judgment (Libra), the month of mercy (Tishretu is the
Babylon word for mercy and forgiveness and the Acadian word for creation).
FISHERY is the SEVENTH MONTH IN THE HISTORICAL JEWISH CALENDAR,
WHICH STARTS IN NISAN (UPON THE EXODUS FROM EGYPT). SHEVA,
the Hebrew word for SEVEN, has the same root as the words SHVOUA’
(OATH, VOW), and it has a special significance in Jewish tradition:
Seven days of creation, Seven days per week, SHABBAT is the seventh
day, seven circles with the Torah during its annual celebration, seven
special guests at the Sukkah (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aharon
and David), seven plants blessing the Holy Land, seven weeks between
Passover and Shavou’ot (Pentecost), seven years of Shmita (the
Sabbath of earth), seven cycles of Jubilee, seven days of Passover and
Sukkot, seven prophetesses (Sarah, Miriam, Devorah, Abigail, Houlda,
Hanna and Esther), seventh heaven, David was the seventh son of Jesse, Moses
was the seventh generation from Abraham, Noah was the seventh son of Enosh,
seven holidays in Tishrei, etc. A traditional dish on Rosh Hashana
is Fish (which stands for fertility and for “may we been the head,
rather than the tail”), and Fish in Hebrew numerology equals SEVEN.
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ROSH HASHANA IS CELEBRATED
BY 101 BLOWS OF THE SHOFAR (Horn), which commemorate the Receipt of the
Torah on Mt. Sinai, the destruction of the Temples, the ingathering of the
Jews and the Opening of the Gates of Heaven for one’s prayers. The root of
the word Shofar is “To Improve/improvement - Shipur). A
SINGLE Shofar is blown, representing the UNITY OF THE JEWISH
PEOPLE. The Shofar must not be covered with ornaments, thus
standing for HUMILITY. The prayer preceding the blowing of the
Shofar stands for Optimism (God heeds our prayers) and for the fear of -
and faith in - God. Another Hebrew word for Shofar is Kesseh, which
is derived from the Hebrew word LEKHASOT, to cover (our sins). The
first day of the Jewish months always coincides with a fully COVERED
moon.
May 5763 be a year of humility, justice,
caring, responsibility, consideration, principles, values, realism, tenacity,
persistence, long-term strategy (rather than short-term tactic), consistency
and faith.
SHANA TOVA, HAPPY NEW
YEAR
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