(א) ארבעה ראשי שנים הם. באחד בניסן ראש השנה למלכים. ולרגלים. באחד באלול. ראש השנה למעשר בהמה. רבי אלעזר ורבי שמעון אומרים באחד בתשרי. באחד בתשרי ראש השנה לשנים. ולשמיטין. וליובלות. לנטיעה. ולירקות. באחד בשבט ראש השנה לאילן. כדברי בית שמאי. בית הלל אומרים בחמשה עשר בו:
The four new years are: On the first of Nisan, the new year for the kings and for the festivals; On the first of Elul, the new year for the tithing of animals; Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Shimon say, on the first of Tishrei. On the first of Tishrei, the new year for years, for the Sabbatical years and for the Jubilee years and for the planting and for the vegetables. On the first of Shevat, the new year for the trees according to the words of the House of Shammai; The House of Hillel says, on the fifteenth thereof.
On this day, the world came into being; On this day, God makes stand in judgment— all the creatures of the worlds— whether as children, or as servants; if as children, have compassion on us as a parent has compassion on their children! If as servants, our eyes are fixed on You until You favor us, and bring forth our judgment as the light, Revered and Holy One!
What does this text evoke for you?
What is the connection between the birth of the world and Rosh Hashanah?
“Today is the Birthday of the World!”
But in truth, that’s a cheerfully pediatric translation of the phrase.
The literal translation announces:
“Today is the conception of the world.”
Harah in Hebrew, means conception or pregnancy,
and not coincidentally, we find that word
in both the Torah and haftarah readings this morning:
Vatahar vateled Sarah.
Sarah conceived and gave birth.
Vatahar Hannah vateled ben.
Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son.
In the Jewish tradition, we don’t say mazel tov or “Congratulations!”
when we learn that someone is pregnant.
And there’s a reason for that.
We recognize that there is still a lot of uncertainty
and potential for loss between pregnancy and birth.
Instead, we say b’sha’ah tovah: “In good time.”
Hayom Harat Olam
“Today the world is pregnant,
Now that feels like a truer translation
for this Rosh Hashanah, 5781.
We’re not yet feeling the joy and celebration of a “birth day”
but rather, perhaps, the cautious optimism that this new year is pregnant
with possibilities for new life and blessing.
How does this retranslation, and Rabbi Buchdahl's connection to traditional Torah and Haftarah texts, change your view of Hayom Harat Olam? How might it change our idea of judgment in the passage?
How is gender at work in this idea?
Abaye said: Now that you have said that a sign is a substantial matter, a person should be accustomed to eat, at the start of the year, gourd, fenugreek, leeks, beets, and dates, as each of these grow and multiply quickly, which is a good omen for the deeds of the upcoming year.
We usually associate Passover as the most food-centric holiday. How are these traditional Rosh Hashanah foods (along with these, round challah, apples and honey, pomegranate seeds) connected to Hayom Harat Olam?
(יג) ראה את מעשה האלהים כי מי יוכל לתקן את אשר עותו - בשעה שברא הקדוש ברוך הוא את אדם הראשון, נטלו והחזירו על כל אילני גן עדן, ואמר לו: ראה מעשי כמה נאים ומשובחין הן, וכל מה שבראתי, בשבילך בראתי, תן דעתך שלא תקלקל ותחריב את עולמי, שאם קלקלת אין מי שיתקן אחריך. ולא עוד שאת גורם מיתה לאותו צדיק.
(13) Look at God's work - for who can straighten what He has twisted? (Ecclesiastes 7:13). When the Blessed Holy One created the first human, He took him and led him round all the trees of the Garden of Eden and said to him: “Look at My works, how beautiful and praiseworthy they are! And all that I have created, it was for you that I created it. Pay attention that you do not corrupt and destroy My world: if you corrupt it, there is no one to repair it after you.
How can God's warning impact our reading of Hayom Harat Olam and the preciousness of our earth? Does it resonate with you with any current issues in particular?
Rabbi Angela Buchdahl again:
At some point, despite the fatigue and the fog,
like Sarah and Hannah, and our mothers before us--
we know we need to find the strength
and we have to PUSH.
After all--we don’t have a choice.
We can’t stay eternally pregnant.
Our city, our nation, our entire world,
is in the throes of some serious contractions--
Protests and riots, hurricanes and wildfires,
and a persistent, insistent virus that has shuttered businesses
and taken nearly a million lives.
We despair because it feels like
everything around us is dying--
our economy, our democracy, our planet.
But I believe
that the pain and convulsions we are feeling
are not the last shudders of death and demise,
but the labor pains of a new world,
longing to be born.
What kind of new world do we want to see born this year?
What would it mean along with saying L'Shanah Tovah (happy new year, to a good change), we also added B'Sha'ah Tovah (in a good time)?