New Beginnings

Last night at sundown marked the beginning of the Jewish New Year, commonly known as Rosh Hashana or Feast of Trumpets, and it marks the first day of what is known as the days of awe.  The Days Of Awe is a  10 day period of time were people search their hearts and seek forgiveness from those that they have wronged as well as seeking forgiveness from G-D. It is a time when people reflect on their actions of the past year and seek to improve that which they can. It is literally a time for new beginnings. It is a time when people petition G-D for a good and sweet new year full of blessings because it is believed that during this time, leading up to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, that G-D is literally deciding the fate of all peoples and nations.

It is the idea of a new beginning and forgiveness that I would like to address.

Over the past year I have offended some of you rather badly, it was not my intent to do so but I have none the less. In some cases I have tried to reconcile the differences only to make matters worse and in other cases I have sought out forgiveness from those I have offended only to be ignored or scorned. In these cases I have done what I can and I have to leave it in G-d’s hands. I can only pray that those people will find forgiveness in their hearts.

In at least one case I have offended an entire group of people, Muslims, based on their religion or, more precisely, some of the radicals, never once equating what I was doing, with what has been done to me and my family because we believe differently than Christianity. So to anyone who is a Muslim who is reading this, I am sorry for my ignorance and near hypocrisy in passing judgment on you based on radicals with in your religion. There are crazies in every religion and I have no right to judge all by the actions of a few.

So starting today, for me at least, I am going to seek a new beginning. I am going to try to be more open minded and try to sift more carefully, that which is being fed to me by the media, in all its forms, and focus more on the things of G-D. That is not to say that I won’t screw up from time to time but it is to say that it will not be my intent.

So to my friends and family who may be reading this, Have a happy new year and may it be filled with sweetness and joy.

Shana Tova