Rebecca Guttman’s Rosh Hashanah Message for 2024

Rosh Hashanah, a time of reflection, renewal, and hope, serves as a profound touchstone in Jewish life. Over the past century, while many traditions have endured, our engagement with the holiday has undoubtedly evolved. Family structures have changed, and communities have migrated, adapting to new circumstances. Yet for my family and me, the essence of Rosh Hashanah remains steadfast: it is a time to reflect on the past year, seek forgiveness, and set intentions for the year ahead. We will gather at a table set with my grandmother’s plates, which she carried from country to country, each piece a symbol of her hopes for safety, security, and prosperity. Our traditions hold strong as we attend synagogue, believing that while individual prayer and reflection are meaningful, coming together as a community amplifies our hopes.

As we strive to ensure a year filled with blessings for ourselves and our people, we partake in symbolic foods. We will dip apples in honey, yearning for a year imbued with sweetness and joy. Round challah will remind us that, despite the changes in our lives, we move forward in cycles, with enduring hopes and connections to one another. The blasts of the shofar will echo a time when our fragile people were spared by a ram’s horn, a reminder that, even in our current despair, we can look toward hope and joy for ourselves, our families, and our communities. This unwavering belief in the collective spirit of the Jewish nation has endured not only over the last century but throughout the millennia. Wishing everyone – especially the Jewish people as a whole – a year filled with sweetness and redemption.

Rebecca is the Atlanta Manager at Jewish Fertility Foundation.

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