By Rachel Nussbaum

Most Americans think of “the holiday season” as the time around December or January. In the Jewish community, however, we are in the midst of our busiest holiday season now, during the month of October or the Hebrew month of Tishrei. This month we have already celebrated Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), and we are about to begin the week-long holiday of Sukkot (The Festival of Booths).

The Jewish New Year celebration of Rosh Hashanah stands in contrast to the secular New Year’s which we celebrate on Jan. 1. On that New Year’s, we orient our gaze toward the future, writing resolutions and setting goals. This emphasis on tomorrow leaves little room for the past. In fact, even the secular New Year “liturgy” celebrates the movement away from the past and toward the future: “Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?” The message of the song is clear: New Year’s is an opportunity to erase the past and start over with a clean slate.

Like the secular New Year’s, Rosh Hashanah provides us with the chance to start anew, but only in light of serious evaluation of the past year (more serious than just sports highlights or Rick Dees’ top hits of the year). In the synagogue, a musical instrument called the shofar (made from a ram’s horn) is sounded repeatedly. Its piercing blasts function like a spiritual alarm clock, awakening us from our complacency and causing us to turn inward in a process of serious self-reflection. In the book “High Holiday Bible Themes,” Rabbi Sidney Greenberg tells the following story to explain what effect the shofar is supposed to have:

Some time ago, a sheep herder in the hills of Idaho sent a letter to one of the national radio programs in which he made a strange request. He explained that he listened to the program every week and that the radio was his sole companion in his lonely occupation. His old violin that he used to play was now so badly out of tune as to be worthless. “I wonder if you would be kind enough,” he went on, “to pause on your 10 o’clock program on Tuesday morning to strike an “A” so that I might tune my violin and enjoy its music again.” The shepherd’s request was honored. On the 10 o’clock program the following Tuesday, the announcer read the unusual request to his nationwide audience and then an “A” was sounded so that the shepherd might tune his violin and play it again. On Rosh Hashanah, God bids us to sound an “A” on the shofar so that each of us might tune up the instrument of our lives and proceed to play beautiful music.

Whether or not you are part of the Jewish tradition, you are welcome to join us in our process of self-evaluation and self-improvement during this month, as we “tune up the instrument of our lives” at the beginning of our Jewish New Year. In Hebrew, this process is known as heshbon nefesh. (Literally, these Hebrew words are translated as “accounting of the soul.” Heshbon is the word you might use in Israel to ask for a receipt or to balance your checkbook.) The process of heshbon nefesh involves adding up all the pieces, so to speak, or itemizing your thoughts and actions to build a more complete picture of who you are and who you would like to become.

Some people find it easiest to do this self-reflection in private meditation, while others prefer writing in a journal or talking through the process with a relative or close friend. There is no one right way to go about it. Whichever method you choose, here are a few guiding questions you may find helpful to ask yourself:

? How am I doing? In what ways is my life already “in tune"? In what ways am I “out of tune”?

? How have I changed in the last year? Have my priorities shifted at all?

? What role have religion and God played in my life?

? How am I making a difference in the world around me? With friends and family? For those in need?

? What are my goals for the coming year? What kinds of memories will I create for myself?

? How will I relate to my family members this year?

? How will I avoid making last year’s mistakes all over again?

Clearly the list of questions could go on and on; these are only intended to serve as triggers for you.

It is my prayer for all of us during this “holiday season” that we will be able to tune our lives and become the people we would like to be. On behalf of Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative Congregation, I would like to wish all of you a shana tova, a year filled with happiness and health, blessings and peace!

Rachel Nussbaum is the assistant rabbi at Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative Congregation, 3700 E. Mercer Way, Mercer Island.