"On the second day of Rosh Hashanah you went to a course of water – that was the custom, it was something traditional –, and you shook your pockets clean, you threw in the water everything you had in your pockets – meaning you cast away all the sins you committed during the year, you throw them into the water. People go taslich – meaning we are going there to shake our sins. In the morning, after the religious service was over at the synagogue, the Jews of Dorohoi went to do the taslich by the hundreds. ..." --Simon Meer, Romania
הַשְׁלִ֣יכוּ מֵעֲלֵיכֶ֗ם אֶת־כׇּל־פִּשְׁעֵיכֶם֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר פְּשַׁעְתֶּ֣ם בָּ֔ם וַעֲשׂ֥וּ לָכֶ֛ם לֵ֥ב חָדָ֖שׁ וְר֣וּחַ חֲדָשָׁ֑ה
Cast away from yourselves all your transgressions, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.
from Mahzor Hadash
Let us cast away the sin of deception, so that we will mislead no one in word or deed nor pretend to be what we are not.
Let us cast away the sin of vain ambition which prompts us to strive for goals which bring neither true fulfillment nor genuine contentment.
Let us cast away the sin of stubbornness, so we will neither be consumed by desire for what we lack nor grow unmindful of the blessings which are already ours.
Let us cast away the sin of selfishness, which keeps us from enriching our lives through wider concerns, and greater sharing, and from reaching out in love to other human beings.
Let us cast away the sin of indifference so that we may be sensitive to the sufferings of others and responsive to the needs of our people everywhere.
Let us cast away the sins of pride and arrogance, so that we may worship God and serve God's purpose in humility and truth.
יָשׁ֣וּב יְרַֽחֲמֵ֔נוּ יִכְבֹּ֖שׁ עֲוֺֽנֹתֵ֑ינוּ וְתַשְׁלִ֛יךְ בִּמְצֻל֥וֹת יָ֖ם כָּל־חַטֹּאותָֽם׃
You will return to us compassionately, overcoming the consequences of our sin, and
You will cast our sins into the depths of the sea.
Reflections of our imperfect selves flow away.
What can we bear,
with what can we bear to part?
We upturn the darkness, bring what is buried to light.
What hurts still lodge,
what wounds have yet to heal?
We empty our hands,
release the remnants of shame,
let go fear and despair
that have dug their home in us.
Open hands, opening heart —
The year flows out, the year flows in.
- Marcia Falk
Take your time to find the dirt in your pockets.
Think about your misdeeds that collected over the last year, perhaps remembered, perhaps forgotten.
Hold your dirt, your lint, some of the bread you brought, or a pebble you pick up.
Cast what you held into the water and watch the water carry or cover it.
Breathe in a deep a breath, and breathe it out slowly.
You are making a new heart and a new spirit.
אָבִֽינוּ מַלְכֵּֽנוּ חָנֵּֽנוּ וַעֲנֵֽנוּ כִּי אֵין בָּֽנוּ מַעֲשִׂים עֲשֵׂה עִמָּֽנוּ צְדָקָה וָחֶֽסֶד וְהוֹשִׁיעֵֽנוּ:
Our Parent, Our Ruler! favor us and answer us although we are without merits, deal with us rightly and lovingly deliver us.
הֲשִׁיבֵ֨נוּ ה' ׀ אֵלֶ֙יךָ֙ וְֽנָשׁ֔וּבָה חַדֵּ֥שׁ יָמֵ֖ינוּ כְּקֶֽדֶם׃
Return us, Adonai, to You, and we will return; Renew our days as at the origin!
Throwing bread into the water and reciting the biblical passage mentioning "the deep" is a reminder of the deep out of which the days of creation were formed. Thus, by going to the sea on Rosh Hashanah, we celebrate creation and are led to think of our own place in God's scheme of creation. When we contemplate these matters and repent from our sins, then they are truly thrown away, into the water, and we feel renewed on this Day of Judgement. - Moses Isserles