Jews get to make New Year’s resolutions four months earlier than everyone else. That means we start to diet with a full day FAST! On Yom Kippur, we not only seek forgiveness from a spiritual G-D, but from those earthly individuals who we may have intentionally or unintentionally hurt during the past year. We also forgive those who have hurt us, ridding ourselves of the burden of anger, and more importantly, we forgive ourselves.
On Tashlich, we “cast away” our “sins” by tossing some bread by the edge of a body of moving water on the first day of the new year. Since our lake has a “do not feed the ducks” sign posted, it is also the only day of the year when the ducks get to eat.
You can toss away as much sin as you feel necessary, from a slice of bread to an entire loaf, depending on what type of year you had, but you should to choose the body of water carefully.
One particularly “sinful” year, I went to the beach to toss my sins into the ocean, but as soon as I did, the waves threw them back. It seems even the ocean didn’t want them!
Jewish holidays are also very unstressful. There is no “countdown to a “one day” event. Hanukkah and Passover are eight days long, so if you’re busy on the first, you still have seven more. Even New Year’s Eve is celebrated twice, since Rosh Hashanah is a two-day holiday. Jews have enough stress in our lives, celebrating holidays is a time for joy.
There is a downside however, especially when it comes to the entertainment industry and their plot lines involving end of the world scenarios. Our Torah consists of the first five books of Moses and as such, we have no reference or any knowledge of what is portrayed as the Apocalypse. We don’t even have a “hell”. (Although I’m convinced that there is a special one for Bernie Madoff!)
Many years ago I went to see “The Omen”. I was completely lost. I didn’t know what the 666 was, or the sign of the beast, or any of the other “omens” which were shown in the movie. I didn’t have a clue. There is a television show on the CW called “Supernatural”, and is loaded with mentions of Lucifer, arch angels, and four horsemen. None of which is familiar to those who have not been educated in Christian theology. I just don’t get it. I also do not understand why none of these shows ever have characters from other faiths helping fight the evil which only seems to exist in Christianity. I’m sure Muslims, Buddists and even Wiccans would be more than happy to help, but they’re no where to be found in main stream horror fiction.
I do have to give credit to the BBC for their series “Being Human” in which one of the main characters, the werewolf, is shown wearing a necklace with the Star of David. He grips in to ward off vampires, which is a nice change from all those crosses. However, even here, the producers missed a very valuable point. Unlike the crucifix, The Jewish star symbol has no religious meaning. To have been more accurate, the character should have been wearing a Mezuzah, which is placed on the doorway of Jewish homes and may also be worn as a necklace.
The Mezuzah contains a scroll upon which is written the "Shema Israel" (Deuteronomy 6:4-9) and other passages from the Hebrew bible, a great deal more religiously powerful than a star.
In fact, thousands of years ago when actual Vampires did roam the earth, Christians could easily use their fingers to make the sign of the cross and escape unscathed, but it was nearly impossible to use this method to create a six pointed star. Jews were being wiped out by vampires at a horrendous rate, until a very learned Rabbi reminded everyone that the word of
G-D is contained within the Mazuzah. So using the longest finger on your hand to show the “sign of the Mezuzah” that would be an effective way of chasing away vampires.
Especially when some vampire cuts you off in traffic.
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Christine McKellar
Bob Eckstein
King Kaufman
Kerry Lauerman
Joan Walsh
Salon.com
Comments
Remember that in the old Roman Polanski comedy "Fearless Vampire Killers" he used a retread of an old joke ...
The landlord of the inn was Jewish ... and a vampire (how interestingly difficult to keep kosher with the prohibition against blood). At one point he is leaning in to initiate a major hickey and his victim raises a little cross for protection.
"Oy!" he says, "do you have the wrong wampire."