This weekend was Rosh HaShanah – the Jewish new year. The new year lasts two days and is a time of reflection on how to make the next year a better one and has long prayers. In fact already the week beforehand has Slihot prayers that we say before the regular morning prayers. Now that Rosh HaShanah is over we carry on with the Slihot till Yom Kippur.
Anyway, why am I telling you all this? In order to explain why I’m not getting any painting done. It’s kind of hard getting up at 5:00 in the morning foir prayers, working a full day, getting ready for the holidays and painting. Excuses, excuses….
So in the evening after Shabbat (Saturday sabbath) that immediately followed Rosh HaShanah I got out my canvas that I primed with gesso last week and sketched in the start of the new painting in charcoal. Not much progress, but as much as I managed to get done. Next move is to sketch over that in paint. Hopefully on Tuesday I’m going to get some time to make some more progress (today I was at a kindergarten beginning-of-year meeting, tomorrow is supermarket night.
That’s all fine. What, however, do you think about Obadiah Shoher’s criticism pf Rosh Hashanah as aholiday that has nothing to do with New Year? Here, for example http://samsonblinded.org/blog/petty-paganism.htm
Obadiah Shoher appears to be a very angry man. From reading some of his articles he promotes a fundamentalist Karaite platform which rejects mainstream Rabbinic Judaism.
The main problem with his diatribe is that he picks on the trivial (and strange) trappings of the day and bases his whole thesis on these alone. I am an Orthodox Jew and I didn’t do any of the things he is criticizing and yet I think I observed Rosh Hashanah fully. Rosh Hashanah is about accepting God’s rule and reflection on how to change and make next year a better one. I think it’s a good thing.
Anyway, you asked what I think so here is my take:
He contends that 1st Tishrei is not the new year which is OK by me if that’s his opinion. The only thing that is not clear is what he proposes to do on the festival of 1st Tishrei instead of what Orthodox Jews do.
He then goes on to berate Hasidim for praying at the graves of dead rabbanim. I can buy that one as well, though I would have used different language.
He then says that Hasidim shake their Tzitzit at the sea to signify losing their sins and says this is absurd. Well, I don’t think it is any more absurd that any other religious (or secular) ceremony or rite. Apart from that, for your (and his) information they don’t shake their tzitzit at the sea, if they shake anything it is their pockets. Most don’t do that either.
Kaparot. I agree with him on that one as well. However I think he has misunderstood that noone is actually sacrificing a chicken. They wave the chicken over their head, say let this chicken be killed in place of me and that’s it. It then goes for the slaughter in order to donate it to the needy to be eaten.
Finally kissing Torah scrolls and mezuzot can be a superstition but it is more a devotion to what’s written in it. If he doesn’t like it he doesn’t have to.