September 25, 2016

Let the Jewish New Year and its blessings start | תָּחֵל שָׁנָה וּבִרְכוֹתֶיהָ

In Jerusalem's Makhne Yehuda shuk/market
honey for sale adds sweetness to the New Year

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, falls on Tishrei 1 and 2 in the Hebrew calendar. In 2016, it begins Sunday evening, October 2 and ends Tuesday evening, October 4. I first published this post September 12, 2007.

Dear Tamar, 

Let the New Year and its blessings start | תָּחֵל שָׁנָה וּבִרְכוֹתֶיהָ | Takhel shana u-virkhote-ha. * 

The Hebrew word Shana comes from the word li-shnot (to repeat) but it also sounds like le-shanot (to change). I think that's the main idea every Rosh Hashanah: it's our chance to repeat our mistakes or harness our thoughts and steer our actions to change. I hope your New Year will be filled with good choices. 
Shana Tova 5768

*  Shimon cites the concluding one-line chorus in the 13th century piyyut, Jewish liturgical poem, by Abraham Hazzan of Gerona (Girondi), Spain. The chorus replaces this chorus in preceding verses:

Let the year end with all its curses | תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ | Tikhleh shana ve-killeloteha! 

Listen to the exquisite Syrian melody in the recording (Hebrew) of this piyyut,  Little Sister | אָחוֹת קְטַנָּה | Akhot Ktana.

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5 comments:

QUASAR9 said...

May your new year be filled
with the sweetest of honeys

JeSais said...

wishing you a sweet new year!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for explaining this brachah. I wanted to know more about it and this was just what I wanted to know.

Shanah tovah!

Susanne said...

Hi Tamar,

I just forwarded your blog post to a few friends and family as a holiday greeting. It was such a lovely piece..thanks for writing it.

hugs, Susanne

Shimon said...

That brings back such good memories :)
Gmar tov, dear Tamar. This is a very holy day and I do love it. I hope you find it meaningful and strengthening.
Shimon