The New Jew Year
C’mon…'really?'The'whole' holiday'is'about'apples'&' honey?'Can’t'be!'So'what’s' it'all'about?'I'mean,'all'that' praying'in'the'synagogue' with'the'cantor,'the'weird' horn'that'the'rabbi'uses…' there'just'has'to'be' something'more!' $$:לֵאמֹר$,יִׂשְָראֵל$ּבְנֵיFאֶל$ּדַּבֵר $,לַחֶֹדׁש$ּבְאֶחָד$הַּׁשְבִיעִי$ּבַחֶֹדׁש $זִכְרֹוןFFׁשַּבָתֹון$לָכֶם$יִהְיֶה $.ֹקֶדׁשFמְִקָרא$,ּתְרּועָה Speak$to$the$children$ of$Israel,$saying:$In$ the$seventh$month,$ on$the$first$of$the$ month,$there$be$a$ rest$day$for$you,$a$ remembrance$with$a$ shofar$blasts,$a$hold$ meeAng$
",עורו"ישנים"משנתכם "ונרדמים"הקיצו ""וחפשו,מתרדמתכם "במעשיכם"וחזרו"בתשובה $וזכרו"בוראכם Why$do$we$sound$the$shofar$on$ Rosh$HaShana?$The$Rambam,$one$of$ the$greatest$commentators$in$Jewish$ history,$says$that$the$reason$we$ sound$the$shofar$is$to$remind$us$that$ we$can$always$improve.$We$live$in$a$ world$that$does$a$very$good$job$of$ distracAng.$Its$hard$to$become$a$ beCer$person$when$we$are$so$ distracted.$So$once$a$year,$the$ Torah$makes$us$listen$to$the$ shofar,$our$reminder$that$we$ need$to$pay$aCenAon…$to$ how$awesome$each$of$us$ could$be$if$we$just$try$to$ make$ourselves$just$a$liCle$bit$beCer.$
$לי$מי$,לי$אני$אין$אם If$I$am$not$for$ myself,$who$will$be$ for$me?$No$one$ else$is$going$to$ make$me$in$an$ even$greater$ person.$Guess$ $it’s$Ame$for$ me$to$think$ about$where$I$ can$make$myself$ An$even$beCer$ Jew!!$
! The$New'Jew$Year$ Advisor’s$Copy$ GOAL:!To!show!NCSYers!that!Rosh!Hashana!is!not!supposed!to!be!about! punishments!and!fear,!but!that!it!is!about!an!opportunity!to!make!small!changes!in! our!lives!that!make!us!better!people.!Once!a!year!we!have!a!moreCspecialCthanCusual! opportunity!to!make!these!small!changes:!we!have!the!shofar.! I.
Activity:!tell!NCSYers!to!get!into!pairs.!Tell!them!that!you!will!ask!them!a! couple!of!questions!and!that!you!will!call!on!people!to!share!their! PARTNER’s!answers.!This!forces!good!conversation!with!the!kids.!Give! 30C60!seconds!for!them!to!speak!it!out!in!their!pairs.!Then!call!on!the!kids! that!are!usually!the!most!disengaged!to!share!their!partner’s!answers.! Here!are!the!questions:! a. What!do!you!think!of!when!you!here!your!mom/school/rabbi!say,!“It’s! Rosh!Hashana!”!Could!be!good!or!bad.!This!is!just!to!get!them!thinking! about!Rosh!Hashana.!Carry!the!conversation!based!on!their!answers! for!a!few!minutes.! b. What!do!you!think!about!when!you!hear!the!shofar?!When!they!are! sharing!their!partner’s!turns,!this!could!turn!into!a!good!conversation.! Let!it!go!for!as!long!as!you!see!fit.!
II.
Share!with!them!that!there!are!different!kinds!of!commandments,!some! based!on!the!Torah!verses!and!some!based!on!rabbi’s!laws.!The!mitzvah! of!shofar!is!a!mitzvah!from!the!Torah.![Show!them!the!source!on!the!left! with!the!English!translation.]!That!means!that!GCD!told!the!Jewish!people! that!once!a!year,!on!the!first!day!of!the!new!Jewish!year,!we!have!an! obligation!to!hear!the!shofar!being!sounded.!What!was!it!that!He!wanted! from!us?!You!can!say,!“A!lot!of!you!shared!some!nice!answers.”!
III.
The!Rambam!gives!us!an!answer!that!helps!us!to!understand.!I!only! copied!part!of!the!Rambam!and!paraphrased!it,!but!see!sources!on!the! right!of!the!page.!Read!English!and!Hebrew.!The!whole!point!of!Torah!is! for!people!to!make!themselves!a!little!bit!better!than!we!were!yesterday.! Not!to!become!someone!who!they!are!not,!but!to!become!a!more! sophisticated,!developed!version!of!themselves.!
IV.
And!remember,!if!you!are!waiting!for!someone!to!make!those!changes!for! you,!though,!that!doesn’t!happen.!See!source!on!bottom!right!in!English! and!Hebrew.!Sometimes!it!is!hard!to!grow.!But!it!always!going!to!be!you! who!make!the!changes.!
V.
CONCLUSION:!let’s!make!Rosh!HaShana!the!time!of!year!that!we!make! ourselves!even!better,!as!a!person!and!as!a!Jew.!Etc…!
",עורו"ישנים"משנתכם "ונרדמים"הקיצו ""וחפשו,מתרדמתכם "במעשיכם"וחזרו"בתשובה $וזכרו"בוראכם Why$do$we$sound$the$shofar$on$ Rosh$HaShana?$The$Rambam,$one$of$ the$greatest$commentators$in$Jewish$ history,$says$that$the$reason$we$ sound$the$shofar$is$to$remind$us$that$ we$can$always$improve.$We$live$in$a$ world$that$does$a$very$good$job$of$ distracAng.$Its$hard$to$become$a$ beCer$person$when$we$are$so$ distracted.$So$once$a$year,$the$ Torah$makes$us$listen$to$the$ shofar,$our$reminder$that$we$ need$to$pay$aCenAon…$to$ how$awesome$each$of$us$ could$be$if$we$just$try$to$ make$ourselves$just$a$liCle$bit$beCer.$
$לי$מי$,לי$אני$אין$אם If$I$am$not$for$ myself,$who$will$be$ for$me?$No$one$ else$is$going$to$ make$me$in$an$ even$greater$ person.$Guess$ $it’s$Ame$for$ me$to$think$ about$where$I$ can$make$myself$ An$even$beCer$ Jew!!$
! The$New'Jew$Year$ Advisor’s$Copy$ GOAL:!To!show!NCSYers!that!Rosh!Hashana!is!not!supposed!to!be!about! punishments!and!fear,!but!that!it!is!about!an!opportunity!to!make!small!changes!in! our!lives!that!make!us!better!people.!Once!a!year!we!have!a!moreCspecialCthanCusual! opportunity!to!make!these!small!changes:!we!have!the!shofar.! I.
Activity:!tell!NCSYers!to!get!into!pairs.!Tell!them!that!you!will!ask!them!a! couple!of!questions!and!that!you!will!call!on!people!to!share!their! PARTNER’s!answers.!This!forces!good!conversation!with!the!kids.!Give! 30C60!seconds!for!them!to!speak!it!out!in!their!pairs.!Then!call!on!the!kids! that!are!usually!the!most!disengaged!to!share!their!partner’s!answers.! Here!are!the!questions:! a. What!do!you!think!of!when!you!here!your!mom/school/rabbi!say,!“It’s! Rosh!Hashana!”!Could!be!good!or!bad.!This!is!just!to!get!them!thinking! about!Rosh!Hashana.!Carry!the!conversation!based!on!their!answers! for!a!few!minutes.! b. What!do!you!think!about!when!you!hear!the!shofar?!When!they!are! sharing!their!partner’s!turns,!this!could!turn!into!a!good!conversation.! Let!it!go!for!as!long!as!you!see!fit.!
II.
Share!with!them!that!there!are!different!kinds!of!commandments,!some! based!on!the!Torah!verses!and!some!based!on!rabbi’s!laws.!The!mitzvah! of!shofar!is!a!mitzvah!from!the!Torah.![Show!them!the!source!on!the!left! with!the!English!translation.]!That!means!that!GCD!told!the!Jewish!people! that!once!a!year,!on!the!first!day!of!the!new!Jewish!year,!we!have!an! obligation!to!hear!the!shofar!being!sounded.!What!was!it!that!He!wanted! from!us?!You!can!say,!“A!lot!of!you!shared!some!nice!answers.”!
III.
The!Rambam!gives!us!an!answer!that!helps!us!to!understand.!I!only! copied!part!of!the!Rambam!and!paraphrased!it,!but!see!sources!on!the! right!of!the!page.!Read!English!and!Hebrew.!The!whole!point!of!Torah!is! for!people!to!make!themselves!a!little!bit!better!than!we!were!yesterday.! Not!to!become!someone!who!they!are!not,!but!to!become!a!more! sophisticated,!developed!version!of!themselves.!
IV.
And!remember,!if!you!are!waiting!for!someone!to!make!those!changes!for! you,!though,!that!doesn’t!happen.!See!source!on!bottom!right!in!English! and!Hebrew.!Sometimes!it!is!hard!to!grow.!But!it!always!going!to!be!you! who!make!the!changes.!
V.
CONCLUSION:!let’s!make!Rosh!HaShana!the!time!of!year!that!we!make! ourselves!even!better,!as!a!person!and!as!a!Jew.!Etc…!
