Rosh Hashana, Apple Cake and Getting Fat

The Jewish calendar reveals that it's almost Rosh Hashana, the beginning of the New Year, and despite our religion's lack of superstition, when our future hangs in the balance--literally, with our good deeds weighed by God against our bad--we bring on the symbolism.

With food.

Since early Jewish commentaries (Gemara tractate K'risos 6a) where "Abaye said '...at the beginning of each year, each person should accustom himself to eat gourds (squash), fenugreek (or sesame seeds or black-eyed peas), leeks, beets and dates...'," families have adopted the custom to put these and four other foods on their tables, eaten ceremoniously, each with a request to God.  The others are pomegranate, a whole fish, and the most famous, apple, eaten dipped in honey.

The foods were chosen because their names relate to ideas for increase and sweetness for the coming year, and protection from harm.

The apple dipped in honey idea has led to holiday menus incorporating permutations of both, including apple cake and honey cake.  I usually serve a first-night menu that features honey in every dish.  Even the challah, the egg bread that's shaped as a braid the rest of the year, gets a new form--round in a circle, representing the circular nature of passages in time.

Since our college-freshman son was in third grade, we've made apple cake from a class cookbook of the kids' favorites.  It's easy and delicious, more like chunks of apple held together with sweet crumbles:

Max’s Grandma’s Apple Cake

2 cups flour

1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
3 cups peeled and sliced apples
½ cup vegetable/canola oil
1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a bundt or springform pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Combine flour, sugar, soda, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Mix in oil, egg and apples. 

Pour into pan and bake about 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Every culture has its culinarily-based traditions, and certainly Jews imbue their food with more than flavors and guilt. We use it to elevate ourselves above animals by a "ritual" washing and blessings, and we are commanded in the Torah to "eat, be satisfied, and thank the Lord your God for the good land he has given you."  But even beyond all that, Rosh Hashana food is far more than merely reminiscent of the holiday.

Jewish scholars have noted that the point isn't the foods themselves, but rather the humility and respect for God viewing them invokes in us.  Even if you don't like the symbolic foods, or you're allergic, you'd still put them on the table to focus our yearnings.  As the one cooking and planning, I'd guess that all the extra effort that goes into gathering all these symbols earns a bit of God's attention.

An article last week in the New York Times bears upon America's food traditions, connecting changes in family habits with the sharp rise in obesity between 1980 and 2000.  Imbuing food with symbolic powers and emotional connections, like Jews do on Rosh Hashana, isn't the culprit in humanity's higher BMIs--instead it's the eeeevil corporations who market bounteous food at low prices. And it's irresistible sloth-enticements like television and computers, robbing the young of fresh-air playtime. 

A current series of articles in The Lancet, chock-full of politically-correct messages, say that no culture has ever reversed its obesity trends--which "increases the urgency for evidence-creating policy action, with a priority on reduction of the supply-side drivers."  In other words, government must mandate less food availability, so people have to eat less and thus get thin. In a reversal of the war on hunger, Lancet pundits suggest a war on plenty.

In the Times article, health writer Jane Brody reminisces about the good-old days of her childhood, when, lacking nearby vending machines and fast-food outlets, she had to "walk or bike many blocks to buy an ice cream cone," no doubt through ten feet of snow. Kids "went out to run around and play until dark," TV was a week-end special event, and nightly home-cooked meals included no "convenience foods" other than canned fruits and vegetables.

OK, I can play that game too.  When I was a kid, yes, my family did have dinner together, and when I'd ask my mom "What's for dez?" (dessert), she'd usually answer, "canned fruit."  You know, the kind in that heavy sugar-syrup.  Because fruit was healthy.  I'd be disappointed, but sometimes she'd bring home a coffee cake, which we'd devour slathered in butter.

We consumed lots of beef. Mostly ground, the fattier kind, because it was cheaper than the lean.  An eating-out treat was buying a big bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken.  So greasy I'd use half a roll of paper towels blotting it first. It came with mayonnaisy cole slaw.

We drank our milk from those quaint glass bottles the milkman would leave by our back door.  Whole milk, of course.  It was better for children than the only other type, skim.

I didn't come from a family that kept kosher, and every Sunday, my mom would fry up a huge pan of bacon.  Pig bacon, and sausages, served with eggs and pancakes with butter and syrup and glasses of whole milk.

Being a girl, "going out to play" meant confabs or poring over Seventeen Magazine with my best friends.  It meant card games and sometimes sidewalk roller skating.  Good thing there weren't so many skateboarders around. (Why aren't those guys at their computers??)  I had a lot of homework, hand-written from notes taken sitting for hours at the library. 

But we know, suggests Jane Brody and the Lancet crew, that fast foods, corn-syrup-laden store products, aggressive advertising and TV and computers caused the rise in US obesity. 

What, then, has caused its slight decline over the last decade?  What has caused increased obesity in developing countries without these innovations? 

I suspect that alarm over the "obesity epidemic" is exacerbating it.  The more experts insert themselves in our eating choices, by law, policy or admonition, the more we feel guilty about food.  And the stress makes us eat. Or convolute our diets so our bodies don't get what they really need.

Which brings me back to Rosh Hashana, when particular foods are not seen as cholesterol, calories, trans-fats, raw or slow.  Instead, they're sweetness, plenty, protection, and entreaty to God.  In a sense, it's a good thing to have an occasion when we see beyond the sensory pleasure of food to the long-term meaning of sustenance--to continue through another day, and another year.

To my Jewish friends, have a stevia-sweet 5772 of svelte and active health.  And to us all, may every taste remind us of heaven.

The Music of Life for the Jewish New Year 5771

This eve of the Jewish New Year 5771--that's five thousand, seven hundred seventy-one years since Adam spoke--is an emotionally precarious time.

In Jewish terms, it's just moments before God evaluates our behavior and decides whether or not we're worthy of another year--and if so, what type of year it will be.

In personal terms, it's a transitional period for me, with children newly launched and no more excuses for procrastination on writing projects. Time to clear out the clutter, the kids' toys, the stacks of fading construction paper and notebooks that now only remind me of past Septembers.  Time to clarify directions, re-invent, and engage.

More immediately, it's pressure to bake eight round challahs (loaves of egg bread) for our celebrations, cook five formal meals for twelve (there are six sit-down gatherings over the next three days, but we're invited to friends' for one of them), prepare for the arrival of my daughter and soon, my son, on their school holiday breaks, finalize the guest lists and go into full holiday-entertaining mode.

I'm really not ready.

So, I asked my husband, who is a connoisseur of classical music, for help.  It's a near-secret that he has been obsessed with classical music since well before middle school.  He asked for specific record albums for his bar mitzvah gifts.  Instead of carrying photos of his parents and siblings in his pre-teen wallet, he carried portraits of the classical masters.

And he memorized music.  Play four notes of any classical piece and he can instantly recite the composer, the opus number, the key, the conductor, the year composed and the record label and date of release.  Obscure composer? No problem.  Not only will he spell and pronounce his name, complete with umlauts, but provide a short biography--embellished, if you choose, with histories of illegitimate children and venereal diseases.

What I asked for was some "happy music."  I needed encouragement; I needed optimism; I needed something external and catchy and instantly accessible.  My request made him smile ear-to-ear.

What is it about music that connects to the soul, that can provide "happy" with just a succession of tones?  Similarly, a series of sounds can bring tears and melancholy, recreate memories, or provide the stuff of fantasy flight.  Rosh Hashana and the Jewish holidays include liturgy with distinctive tunes that are heavy, as weighty as the decision of who will live and who will die.  We're inspired to repent, all right--hearing those melodies feels like a hammer about to crash down, at times.

This is balanced with the strong, shrill blare of the ram's horn shofar, the symbolic sound of this time of year.  When God gave the ten commandments, the sound of the shofar stirred the hearts of the Jews with an understanding of the importance of the moment; similarly, we feel that same piercing, emotional force when the ram's horn is blown in the synagogue.  Babies stop crying; nobody moves; the visceral grip eliminates verbal thoughts.

Such is the power of a single sound.  Equally affecting is the human construction of sounds into phrases, with syncopation and rhythm and harmony.  Give me "happy music" to make this transition into productivity, into dedication and appreciation and repentance.  Music to motivate gratitude and ongoing enjoyment; attention not to take one moment for granted.

Here is a partial list of my "happy music" from the expert.  Perhaps some piece from this list will add to your excitement and earnestness about the new year.  May it be one of health and sweetness and soaring song.


Brahms: Serenade #1 In D, Op. 11 - 1. Allegro Molto 12:57 Yoel Levi: Atlanta Symphony Orchestra



Brahms: Serenade #1 In D, Op. 11 - 6. Rondo: Allegro 5:30 Yoel Levi: Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

Haydn: Symphony No. 88, IV. Finale: Allegro con spirito 3:28 Fritz Reiner: Chicago Symphony Orchestra Reiner - Haydn Symphones 101, 95, 88

Walking Tune 3:34 Percy Grainger, Music of Percy Grainger

Molly on the Shore 3:53 Percy Grainger; Music of Percy Grainger 


Grainger: Handel In The Strand 4:46 Kenneth Montgomery: Bournemouth Sinfonietta, Music of Percy Grainger


Dvořák: Symphony #6 In D, Op. 60, B 112 - 1. Allegro Non Tanto 12:37 Stephen Gunzenhauser: Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra Dvořák: Complete Published Orchestral Works [Disc 5]


Dvořák: Symphony #6 In D, Op. 60, B 112 - 4. Finale: Allegro Con Spirito 10:41 Stephen Gunzenhauser: Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra Dvořák: Complete Published Orchestral Works [Disc 5] 


Symphony No. 3 ("Espansiva") Carl Nielsen, FS60: 1. Allegro espansivo 10:38 Herbert Blomstedt: San Francisco Symphony Orchestra Symphonies 2 & 3 


Holst: Suite #1 In E Flat - March 3:12 Dallas Wind Symphony Holst: Suites #1 & 2, A Moorside Suite 


Holst: Suite #2 In F -Song Of The Blacksmith 1:20 Dallas Wind Symphony Holst: Suites #1 & 2, A Moorside Suite


Suite #2 in F: 4. Fantasia on the "Dargason" 3:21 Dallas Wind Symphony. Holst: Suites #1 & 2, A Moorside Suite


Rodeo - Buckaroo Holiday 7:19 Aaron Copland. Aaron Copland: Prairie Music - JoAnn Falletta, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra Classical


Rodeo - Hoe Down 3:26 Aaron Copland. Aaron Copland: Prairie Music - JoAnn Falletta, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra Classical


Rodrigo: Concierto Serenata - 1. Estudiantina 8:34 Enrique Bátiz: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Rodrigo Orchestral


Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Guitar Concerto #1 In D, Op. 99 - 1. Allegretto 6:26 Pepe Romero; Neville Marriner: Academy Of St. Martin In The Fields Villa-Lobos;Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Guitar Concertos


Wiren: Serenade - Marcia: Tempo Di Marcia, Molto Ritmico 4:48 Richard Studt: Bournemouth Sinfonietta Scandinavian String Music


Symphony No. 4 Op 90 - Allegro Vivace 10:30 Felix Mendelssohn Symphony# 4


Handel: Alexander's Feast - Harp Concerto In B Flat: Allegro Moderato 6:06 Maxine Eilander; Stephen Stubbs: Seattle Baroque Orchestra Handel's Harp


Beethoven: Symphony #1 In C, Op. 21 - 4. Finale: Adagio, Allegro Molto E Vivace 5:16 David Zinman & The Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich Beethoven: Symphonies [Disc 1]


Beethoven: Symphony #2 In D, Op. 36 - 4. Allegro Con Brio 6:13 David Zinman & The Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich Beethoven: Symphonies [Disc 1]


Bach: Jauchzet Gott In Allen Lande, BWV 51 4:32 Helmuth Müller-Brühl: Cologne Chamber Orchestra, Dresden Chamber Choir Favourite Bach Arias & Choruses


Mendelssohn: Piano Concerto #1 In G Minor, Op. 25 - 3. Presto 6:09 Rudolf Serkin; Eugene Ormandy: Philadelphia Orchestra Mendelssohn: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 and Violin Concerto, Op. 64.

If you've read this far, you're ready to go listen. And be happy you can!

Happy New Year 5770!

As the day wears on, bright and sunny and energizing, with Lake Washington in my view patterned with speedboat trails...with Mt. Rainier outlined against the horizon and the sky streaked with com trails and feathery clouds, I feel enormous gratitude for being brought to this moment, on the eve of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashana.

I'm not only grateful for the usual gifts--which Rabbi Rafael Lapin taught me years ago are better called tools--such as health and family and comfort and living in our most privileged nation, but for the underlying means of perceiving them, that we take for granted moment-to-moment.

With the help of contact lenses--a recent invention--I can see the outlines of the maple leaves tinged with rust, poised to turn russet and brown. With amazingly sophisticated mechanisms, I can taste the complexities of my Starbucks coffee, and adjust the flavorings of the dishes I prepare--Indian curries, sweet salmon marinades, sharp cheeses, tart plums from our own backyard tree.

The dahlias of every hue that were grown in pots on my patio--pointed purple petals, round pom-poms, sunrise mixes whose psychedelic swirls are more creative than artists conceive--are marvels I snip and bring into every room. Like other pleasures, they last only a few days, their magnificence existing only for the joy of my perceptions.

We Jews believe that tonight is the birthday of the world, the day we recognize the source of that as our King.  Simultaneously, our creator is evaluating our purposes, our choices and our futures. This seems odd to me, because I'm constantly aware that life is fragile and fleeting and can stop in a second; clearly God is assessing our worth and value at every turn.  But given the human tendency to chug along tending to the urgent rather than the important, it's probably a good idea to have a day set aside to recognize the obvious.

I wish all my Jewish friends a shana tova u'metuka, a good and sweet New Year 5770, five thousand, seven hundred, seventy years' anniversary of when the first man spoke.  We should use our language to speak only productive, positively-purposed analysis and praise, of each other, of our nation, and of the unlimited bounty that comprises our amazing world.

Joe Wilson's "You Lie!" and Other Examples of Arrogance

What do these four snapshots have in common?  South Carolina congressman Joe Wilson shouts "You lie!" during Pres. Obama's health care speech last week.  A talk radio legend says on his show today the congressman shouldn't have made his quickly-proffered apology.

Somebody sends me the link to a YouTube video of cable talk host Sonja Schmidt trashing Elizabeth Edwards for publishing a book where she lays out her troubles with cancer and her philandering spouse, grousing that the media extend her undue sympathy.

And today, in the kitchen of my daughter's sorority where I helped out during "recruitment" week, I hear tales of frat hazing abuse that another volunteer's brother recently endured.

The commonality?  Everybody's mean.  Joe Wilson couldn't have enough respect for the office of the president to keep his mouth shut. The talk host couldn't allow that the outburst had been rude.  Schmidt's catty tirade about Mrs. Edwards was snide and merciless.  And the mental abuse that frat boy endured caused anxiety and tears.

I know rudeness and cruelty aren't going away, but I want to stand up for civility.  It's fair to criticize Obama's health care plan--and goodness, I certainly do--but let the man speak and then cut his arguments to ribbons. The radio host could have used his platform far more effectively if he'd have dropped defense of Wilson's shout, and instead used the time to emphasize the substance of the president's lies.  Schmidt may think the press unjustifiably lauded Mrs. Edwards for coping with physical and marital travails, but talk about the press' bias, not the last attempts at "Resilience" of a woman scorned and terminally ill with cancer.

And as far as the hazing--well, let me tell you a little more about that. The college guy's sister and mom were appalled at the emotional toll of the process, officially against pan-Hellenic rules, which lasted six months.  They confronted the freshman with "Now that you see how horrible this is, you'll be the one to stand up to end this kind of abuse." The pledge's response?  "Oh no, I'm going to do it too; it's my chance to get back for what was done to me!"

What kind of sick is that?

With just a few days until the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashana, during which time we are charged to do a "heshbon ha nefesh," an accounting of what we've done wrong, I'm looking at my own actions with enhanced sensitivity.  And I'm thinking that all of these nasty behaviors come down to a single cause: arrogance.  Anybody who thinks his stature and importance trumps the president's can interrupt a televised speech with a harsh accusation--and be defended by pundits with the same self-aggrandized view.  Sure a cable-show host wants to snare viewers with a snickering blast at somebody, but here the real culprit was media bias, not the pathetic, ill wife of an ego so large that a video of his primping already reduced him to ridiculous.

And fraternity hazing is merely a dangerous and sadistic means of bonding boys in a degrading testosterone-fueled alliance so they feel validated and accepted.  Collective arrogance, ego-boosting by association.

This week the NY Times Magazine featured a cover story that repeated a maxim every sociology major encounters:  Groups exert a powerful influence on their members.  Just as one's cohort can elevate, it can debase.  That's why it's essential to evaluate the calibur of friends, associates and your chosen milieu to decide whether they provide civilizing, uplifting input or, the opposite. It's too easy to just let things slide by.

What's on God's Mind? Not Sure...

Just in time for the Jewish month of Ellul, which is the "prep month" for the somber and even scary High Holidays, a friend brought to my attention a hilarious, primitively-animated video that asks some pretty deep questions about Christianity.

It basically questions why God would bother to come to earth if He didn't want to significantly improve life for His creatures. Having just completed a very lengthy, intensive study of the Jewish scriptures collected in the "book" of The Twelve Prophets ("Trey Assar"), which contains some pretty strange stuff, it occurred to me that some of the same questions could be asked about them. Here they are able to convey to man anything God wants us to know (and there were thousands of these guys; only timeless prophecies are preserved) and yet God just didn't want us to have some pertinent information that could have made earthly life better and easier, and more in line with what God did suggest He wants for/from us.

This time of year, Jews use the metaphor that "the King is in the Field," ie, the King (God, obviously) doesn't make His subjects come to Him in His castle; rather, He's especially accessible to those who approach, coming out to their turf. What this means for us is that our solemn accounting of our actions and our heartfelt repentances will be more graciously received. I'd also like it to mean that it's easier for us to face our own mental and psychological housecleaning.

But the big deadline is Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year, anniversary of when the first man spoke), when our fate for the coming year is determined. It's then "sealed" ten days later, on Yom Kippur. Oh, we do have through the holiday of Hoshana Rabah to really, really, really repent, and for God to modify the verdict, but the actual decision happens with the Jewish New Year, the first of the Jewish month of Tishrei, which this year synchs to the solar calendar as sundown, September 18.

So, here I am, trying to make the most of this prep month, when the shofar, or ram's horn trumpet, is blown every day to wake us out of our spiritual stupor, and questions I repress just jump in front of my face. The ones raised in the YouTube (regarding the prophets, and other issues) are mere samples of the ongoing discussion I have with the Deity.

But conveniently, I do happen to be Jewish, and questioning and delving and confusion and "breaking one's teeth" over illogic and inconsistency is the "stuff" of this religion. Our sages are known for their questions (What's bothering Rashi?) and our leaders must justify any decisions and answers they offer, based on precedent and earlier sources. The rather bothersome bottom line for me, however, is that ultimately, we humans still have too many questions that are unresolvable.

So, is it better just to give up and enjoy a secular life? Or to be agnostic and admit that yes, there could be God, but it's impossible to know for sure what He wants? Or, to seek closeness through a particular religion? I do think that God desires the flourishing of several major religions, and probably doesn't want people killing each other over doctrinal differences (eg Sunni-Shiite sectarian violence). But then again, what do I know? It's a personal thing; each individual's relationship, or lack thereof, with God is as idiosyncratic as our affinities for particular foods or hobbies or people.

But when you try to live according to Jewish law, there's no escaping the questions. Take a look at the video and let me know what you think.

Financial Crisis and G-D

Over the last two days of Jewish holiday--Rosh Hashana, the birthday of mankind and the beginning of the year 5769, we have spent many hours in synagogue focusing on God's role as sovereign of the universe, and determiner of the fate of each of us. We heard hundreds of blasts from the shofar, the ram's horn that calls us to repentance and is a means of connection with God (as the sound of life and death, as the noise accompanying His delivery of commandments to the Jews gathered at the foot of Mt. Sinai).

At the same time, we entered into the incommunicado time of the holiday--no TV, radio, phones or other contact with the wider world--tense with the drop in the stock market of 777 points and the rejection of a bail-out package by congress.

Our friend, Rabbi Benjamin Blech, wrote on the eve of this holiday of introspection and recognition of God's kingship that every "shmitta" year, the seven year agricultural cycle that occurred this year, God seems to punch us to attention with a huge financial whammy. Last time, Rabbi Blech himself lost his fortune in the dot-com bubble burst. This time, we've got Wall Street meltdown. Seven year cycle. Stock market down by 777.

Seven, btw, is the number that represents completion for man. Have you ever considered why the week is seven days? It could just as easily have been five or four. It's seven because that's the way God created the world, in a cycle of seven.

So, here I was Tuesday night on Rosh Hashana, in the evening after our holiday meal (and after doing the dishes) and I pick up a financial section of the newspaper, I think it was the Wall Street Journal, and in the column on the left front top, I see something that floored me.

The article began something like, "Is it time we start to think about G-D?" For the uninitiated, people who are quite religious, in an effort to not even take the English word for the Lord in vain, will write His title as G-d, omitting the middle "o." So you can imagine my shock when a secular newspaper begins its article on our economic collapse asking if we need Him.

"With so many indicators seeming to point to G-D, we would do well to look to the flaws that led to this situation." Indeed. I have many sins for which I must better atone. "Some may say it's premature to consider G-D, but many experts are warning that unless drastic action is taken, our entire economy will surely suffer radically."

And so it is. We stood in shul pledging our fealty to God, beseeching Him to grant us life and the positive resolution to our problems. I personally had to consciously resist asking for help for our financial system, feeling that I better concentrate on my own worthiness for another year of well-being. And yet, there was a prayer for sustenance. And a prayer for our government. We need to better acknowledge the true source of our success, and not get too confident, secure or cocky.

I kept reading the article, feeling that it had been placed there just for me, to concentrate my thoughts beyond the headlines. And as I kept reading, I found out something wild: the article wasn't about God at all--G-D stands for "Great Depression." Is it too early to start talking about another Great Depression? I don't know. But it's certainly the right time for Jews to be thinking about God.

Preparing for the Jewish New Year

Next Monday night is the first night of Rosh Hashana, the beginning of the New Year 5769. Some say the dating began when Adam ha Rishon (Adam the first man) was fully created; some say the clock started ticking when Adam spoke. Nobody I know who's Jewish thinks the world began just six days (as we know them) before that--and I've been taking a fascinating class on the classic Jewish scholar known as Ramban or Nachmanides (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman Gerondi, 1194-1270) who describes biblical creation in surprising and complex detail. In fact, one of his points is that when God made the world, on the fourth "day" (whatever its length), He embedded seeds in the world that only sprouted and became plants once there was rain and somebody there to use/eat them. Interesting, eh?

In any case, I'm trying to prepare for the occasion next Monday night when we'll be judged and get our year's prescription by listening to cassettes by Rabbi Akiva Tatz (I have the complete set of his lectures up to three years ago--hundreds and hundreds of tapes) on many aspects of the holiday, but alas, the more I listen, the more I realize I cannot adequately repent and repair and get in the proper frame of mind. In fact, I can't even remember all the people to whom I need to apologize, much less all the infractions and offenses I've racked up that need redressing. I'm doomed to failure, and really need to count on God's attributes of mercy (and my associates' mercy as well as lack of recollection) if I stand any chance at all to make it through the next year unscathed. Awk, life was sure easier before I became serious about Judaism!

In the meantime, it seems even Barack, Biden, McCain and Palin are getting in the spirit of the holiday. You'll love this YouTube! L'Shana Tova (Happy New Year)!

Worlds Created by Words--Happy Rosh Hashana 5768!

It's almost Rosh Hashana, the birthday of the world, or at least the birthday of the world with written language. This is the traditional time of self-evaluation, and repentance, with the hope that when God judges us, we will be granted another year, and a good, sweet one at that. In that vein, many people, myself included, use this pre-holiday time for reflection. And one of the things I noticed in my daily prayers is the emphasis on speech.

We recognize God in P'zukei d'Zimra, a section of praise in the morning prayers, as "He who spoke, and the world came into being...He who speaks and Who does...He Who decrees, and fulfills." Words, then, aren't just a means of communication, but the vehicle through which the world was created, and is maintained. It is through God's words that the world came into being--remember, "And the Lord said, 'Let there be light!' And there was light." Why didn't the bible just tell us that God created light? Why did He have to say it? Who was He speaking to? The Angels? Why should they be notified of what their Boss is going to do?

And then, later in our morning prayer, we humans respond to God's words creating us in kind, as "praised and glorified by the tongue of His devout ones and His servants." We then say how we're going to use our tongues--"We shall laud You...with praises and songs; we shall exalt You, praise You, glorify You, mention Your name and proclaim Your reign..."

Why should we do all this verbiage? God is certainly aware of His own grandeur. He knows very well that He's keeping us all going.

So, in my humble reflections, I remembered that saying the words creates the thing in the world (Rabbi Akiva Tatz has a great tape on this). And indeed, the Hebrew word for "word" (devar) also does mean "thing." By verbalizing our praise, God is given honor. By just thinking the idea, without forming speech, the actual "thing" of honoring God remains abstract, intangible, deniable. Without speaking the words, their message, their concepts just don't exist.

OK, so why is all this esoteric stuff relevant? Because in these Days of Awe, this is the way we both repent--and clear ourselves from our misdeeds--and create for ourselves a good year ahead. By spending those interminable hours in synagogue praying--creating via words--we are weaving ourselves a much better chance for the nod from God.

We ask for forgiveness (in words) from those we've wronged. We confess (in slichot and viduy) what we've done wrong--and the list of stuff that needs forgiveness is awfully heavy on verbal sins. With those sins, we created negativity for ourselves and others in this world. By specifically using words in our sincere repentance, we hope to erase or undo the bad stuff we created and with our words bring positive energy into our force-fields. We repeat a list of God's merciful characteristics, with the hope that verbalizing these will actualize them.

That's why it's so important that in my own New Year rehabilitation, I work on lushon ha ra (literally, "evil tongue"--saying negative things). I need to focus on speaking carefully, uplifting the content of what I say. I have to remember that with my words I'm creating--such power!!

We are made in God's image, meaning we have the ability to create, not just architecture and artworks and novels, but to create futures and relationships in this world--with our words. By praising God we are creating for ourselves a closeness to Him--the more you give to someone (eg parent to child), the more you're attached. God, as the ongoing giver of everything, is completely connected to us. We, on the other hand, have our words as a means to be connected to God-- by being like Him, using words to create.

So, those are a few of the things I've been thinking about as we enter into this intense and indeed awesome time. May 5768 be a healthy, safe, fulfilling and sweet year for you and your family!

"Bowling for Soup" lyrics and Rosh Hashana

It's back-to-school time, and my high-schooler son introduced me to a very relevant song, "High School Never Ends," by Bowling for Soup (left), about the gossipy, self-conscious need to be accepted--and feel superior. It's a catchy tune suggesting that we recycle the same prurient and superficial interests way past the time when our maturity fits it. Now, I know it's almost the eve of Rosh Hashana, when the minds of all righteous people are on repentance, but in that philosophical vein, I couldn't help connecting the message of the song with this period of self-examination.

If you have delicate sensibilities, do not read the lyrics to this song, (I mean it, skip the lyrics!) but if you're curious, here they are:

"High School Never Ends" by Bowling for Soup:
Four years, you think for sure
That's all you've got to endure
All the total dicks
All the stuck-up chicks
So superficial, so immature

Then when you graduate,
Ya take a look around and you say "Hey Wait!"
This is the same as where I just came from,
I thought it was over, Aw that's just great.

Chorus: The whole damned world is just as obsessed
With who‘s the best dressed and who's having sex
Who‘s got the money, who gets the honeys,
Who‘s kinda cute and who‘s just a mess

And you still don't have the right look
And you don't have the right friends
Nothing changes but the faces, the names, and the trends

High School Never Ends
Oh Oh, Oh Oh Oh-Oh, Oh Oh Oh-Oh, Oh Oh Oh-Oh, HEY!
Oh Oh, Oh Oh Oh-Oh, Oh Oh Oh-Oh, Oh Oh Oh-Oh, HEY!

Check out the popular kids:
You'll never guess what Jessica did!
And how did Mary Kate lose all that weight?
And Katie had a baby, so I guess Tom's straight!

And the only thing that matters,
Is climbing up that social ladder
Still care about your hair and the car you drive
Doesn't matter if you're 16 or 35

Reese Witherspoon, she's the Prom Queen
Bill Gates, Captain of the chess team
Jack Black, the clown
Brad Pitt, the quarterback

Seen it all before
I want my money back!

Chorus: The Whole Damned World is just as obsessed
With who's the best dressed and who's having sex
Who's in the club and who's on the drugs
Who's throwing up before they digest

And you still don't have the right look
And you don't have the right friends
And you still listen to the same shit you did back then

I don't know your reaction to this erstwhile epiphany on the part of someone perhaps four years past high school, and likely in the Animal House mentality of college. But as someone who feels like a collegian but with lots more years' experience, my first thought was: "NO WAY." While indeed people in rock bands or living in the parallel universe of the New York Times Style Section may be obsessed with "who's the best dressed and who's having sex," the rest of us left that waaaay behind, if we EVER cared about such things. I'd say most of us wanted to be stylish but not "the best dressed," and despite the magazines we're forced to view at the checkout counter at the supermarket, knowing "who's having sex" is just tooooo much information. WE're having sex only with the person to whom we're married, and we want to assume that other people are, too. And for the most part, the vast majority of people in our country who are the proverbial age 35 used in the song to symbolize adulthood are too busy with children and careers and even, ulp, religious commitments, to be seeking diverse sexual experiences or want to hear about anyone else's.

What bothers me in this very popular song is the sad conclusion that "you still don't have the right look, and you still don't have the right friends..." because somehow the competition goes on. Well, this time of year, millions of kids are perhaps entering that kind of schoolyard competition, but those of us who have graduated realize that we DO have the right looks, because looks are superficial and ephemeral. And we DO have the right friends, because we've cultivated a circle of people with whom we share a lot more than Reese Witherspoon, Bill Gates, Jack Black and Brad Pitt stereotypes.

But I must say, this is a darn clever song, and, aside from the impolite language, it even has the potential to make high schoolers (and the rest of us) think. And maybe that's a good lesson for this time of year.