• News
    • Business
    • Canada
    • Health
    • International
    • Israel
  • Perspectives
    • Ask Ella
    • Ask The Love Rabbi
    • Features
    • Jewish Parenting Wisdom
    • Opinions
    • Ideas
    • Letters
    • Personal Essays
  • Food
  • Culture
    • Arts & Entertainment
    • The Arts
    • Books & Authors
    • Canada 150
    • Jewish Learning
    • June 1967
    • Sports
    • Travel
  • Events
    • Contests
  • Supplements
    • Spotlights
  • Other Communities
    • En Français
    • Russian
  • Subscribe
  • Member Centre
  • Log Out
Search
  • Subscribe
  • Member Centre (eCJN)
  • Log Out
  • Newsletter
  • FaceBook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Instagram
CJN - Canada’s largest Jewish newspaper
April 25, 2018 - 10 Iyar 5778
CJN - Canada’s largest Jewish newspaper
  • News
    • Montreal day school, Israeli museum plan celebration of Israel’s 70th

      Marches planned for missing Jesse Galganov

      Jewish community is prepared, security expert says after Toronto attack

      Canadian business accelerator lauded as one of the best in the world

      At 100, Ruth Rotman is still active in the community

      AllBusinessCanadaHealthInternationalIsrael
  • Perspectives
    • Reset your comfort zone to feel alive

      Helmut Oberlander

      Bring the remaining Nazi war criminals to justice

      Reflections on my transgender granddaughter

      Non-binary options – how Jewish organizations can be more inclusive of transgender people

      From Yoni’s Desk: Portman deserves the benefit of the doubt

      AllAsk EllaAsk The Love RabbiFeaturesJewish Parenting WisdomOpinionsIdeasLettersPersonal Essays
  • Food
    • The Shabbat Table: Happy 70th birthday Israel

      The Shabbat Table: A special post-Passover garlic shlissel challah

      Everyone gets gooey at downtown matzah bake

      Making matzah balls unites a modern Jewish family, says Phyllis Feldman

      The easy way out of Passover

      Bannock and matzah: our breads of affliction

  • Culture
    • TJFF founder honoured for decades of public service

      Duo’s debut film has satire, music and a dog — sort of

      Exploring the Jewish world at Hot Docs

      Pound’s support of fascism didn’t deter his appeal to American poets

      Blending Caribbean sun and Jewish history in Curacao

      AllArts & EntertainmentThe ArtsBooks & AuthorsCanada 150Jewish LearningJune 1967SportsTravel
  • Events
    • Jewish Music Week Contest

      Chai Lifeline’s Restoring Hope contest (Closed)

      The CJN Prize (CLOSED)

      BRITISH YIDDISH AND KIDDUSH CONTEST (closed)

      The CJN Prize for Young Writers Contest (closed)

      AllContests
  • Supplements
    • Home Beautiful

      CJL Magazine

      Passover Greetings

      Passover Greetings

      MTL Celebrations

      AllSpotlights
  • Other Communities
    • Limmud FSU delegation participates in leadership summit in Warsaw

      Quel avenir pour les Juifs de France ?

      Israël dans la grande poudrière du Moyen-Orient

      Une entrevue avec Enrico Macias

      L’héritage de Shimon Peres: “Aucun rêve n’est impossible”

      AllEn FrançaisRussian
  • Subscribe
  • Member Centre
  • Log Out
Home Perspectives Opinions We have no choice but to get ready
  • Perspectives
  • Opinions

We have no choice but to get ready

By
The CJN
-
August 23, 2013
310
0
SHARE
Facebook
Twitter

It’s August, still summer, but everyone acts as if it’s fall already. I hate it. Please let summer last. Don’t cut it short. But no, as soon as August arrives back-to-school fliers appear and people start talking about the High Holidays!

Oy! I’m not ready!

I fully understand the need to get ready, especially for something as momentous as the holidays, but I refuse to cut my summer short. We have so little summer here in Canada. August is an important element of time for relaxing, for soaking up that last bit of sun and carefree time of year. Daylight lasts long enough to make evening plans and not feel as though you have to run home before it’s dark. Life is lighter, or so it seems. So why cut it all short?

Especially this year, we’re faced with a shortened summer as those High Holidays come so soon – right after Labour Day. No time to slowly get used to the fall schedule. Rosh Hashanah leaps into our laps. So many friends are talking of starting to cook now! There’s something wrong with this picture.

In general, the holidays cause many problems in the working world. Taking days off from work or school repeatedly is difficult, to say the least. Doing so at the beginning of the school term is problematic. Additionally, three-day holidays – stringing together Thursday, Friday and Shabbat – becomes a challenge to the most innovative parents and community.

Nonetheless, I must get ready.

I won’t give up my August. I won’t lose my summer. I desperately need the summer’s breeze and calm before the frenetic fall. Even thinking of the fall raises my blood pressure. So I cling to August and refuse to cook for Rosh Hashanah yet.

It will be a last-minute thing for me. I can’t help it. When the last week comes, I’ll call people to invite them, and I’ll be a wreck.

But I’ll start thinking of ways to make the holiday season better. What’s the best part of the holiday? Where are the good memories?

For so many of us, the positive aspects of these days centre on family and friends. Synagogue services might be too long, but they do get us together. The networking and rekindling of old friendships is a giant plus. Working that angle helps make the season come alive. With all the meals to prepare, inviting these new/old friends and family to eat together is a worthwhile element of renewal. Spending time together, telling stories, making new memories – that’s what it’s all about for so many of us.

This is one of the ways we build community. Seeing the synagogue full is heart-warming. There’s pride in that communal fullness. Afterward, eating together further redeems the long service. Not only is it good to finally eat, but the togetherness adds to the fullness, to the redemptive notion. We did it. We survived another rabbi’s speech. We’re here and we’re together. We made it through another season of holidays, holding on to our Jewishness while complaining all the way. That social bonding is integral to our continuity and pride.

Of course, there’s another aspect to this season. We must individually renew the bond of our personhood and Jewishness. This is much harder. Who we are and what we are also deserves regeneration. Getting ready for this aspect of the holidays takes more time, more intensive planning, and few of us truly prepare for it.

Maybe that’s why services are so long. We wait until we’re in the moment of prayer to get going. And the going is tough. I’m seldom ready for it. Facing up to who I am and what I’ve done in the past year requires a level of introspection and honesty that I shy away from. It’s not just that I want summer to last. I want release from difficulties and responsibilities. Of course, there’s no such choice. 

The High Holidays give us a chance to face up to who we are and gives us the chance to renew our lives. That’s true freedom. That’s self-determination.

We just have to get ready.

SHARE
Facebook
Twitter
The CJN

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

Montreal day school, Israeli museum plan celebration of Israel’s 70th

Reset your comfort zone to feel alive

Helmut Oberlander

Bring the remaining Nazi war criminals to justice

  • Popular
  • Recent
Subscribe to the CJNSubscribe
RSS FeedView
5,527FansLike
856FollowersFollow
10,111FollowersFollow
197SubscribersSubscribe
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe / Member Centre (eCJN)
  • eCJN Archives
  • Supplements
  • Media Kit
  • Advertising Terms
  • Premiums

One on One at Comicon with Leo Leibelman

Purim 2018 on Toronto's streets

Baba Fira's CJN Prize Awards invite

  • News
  • Canada
  • Israel
  • International
  • Opinions
  • The Arts
The award-winning Canadian Jewish News (CJN) is Canada’s largest, weekly Jewish newspaper with an audited circulation of nearly 32,000 and read by more than 100,000 people each week.
© Copyright 2018 Canadian Jewish News
  • Comments Policy
  • Community Links
  • Contact Us
  • Media Kit
  • Privacy Policy
  • Subscribe
  • Admin

Week in Review...

Comes Right to You

Sign up for our Weekly Newsletter

X