Images of apples dipped in honey and small pieces of bread being tossed into water don’t come to mind when most people anticipate celebrating a new year. This is, not unless one is celebrating Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. ?Celebrants mark Rosh Hashanah (“The Head of the New Year”) with communal and personal introspection. Thursday, September 16 marked the Jewish New Year, beginning a time for prayer, repentance, and celebration. ?Rosh Hashanah begins a time known as “The Ten Days of Awe,” leading up to Yom Kippur “The Day of Atonement,” which is celebrated on September 25.
Michelle Brodsky, a coordinator at USM’s Center for Sexuality and Gender Diversity and a practicing Jew, explained Rosh Hashanah as “a chance to say I’m sorry,” and “to reflect upon how I have been with other human beings.” ?According to Brodsky, apples dipped in honey are eaten to symbolize a sweet new year and small pieces of bread are tossed into water to “symbolize a sin or something you want to let go.”
Jamie Standish, a human biology major and commuter student from Brunswick, celebrated Rosh Hashanah by going to a synagogue in Bath. She spends time with friends and family.
“We get to drink wine and have a big dinner,” she said.
Due to the fact that Rosh Hashanah fell on a school day, Standish felt pressured to attend her physics and biology labs. ?”I took the morning off but I didn’t think I would be able to get out of lab. ?I felt like I can’t miss those.” ?Brodsky, who took time off from work to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, said, “People were understanding and respectful.”
According to Andrea Thompson McCall, assistant dean of student life and interfaith chaplin, “it’s hard [for Jewish students] to go home to be with family the way Christian students can over Christmas.” ?She noted the Jewish population at USM, “is small in numbers but quite diverse.” ?
Yet, Thompson McCall pointed out, there is still a sense of community among Jewish students. “Last year several Jewish students got together for services and to go out to dinner,” she said.
Thompson McCall, who sent out an e-mail informing the USM community about the upcoming Jewish holidays, says she tries to, “expand people’s awareness of different religions and cultures.”
Abraham Peck, director of the USM academic council for post-holocaust Christian, Jewish and Islamic studies, said “It is a time to celebrate the anniversary of the creation of the world.” Rosh Hashanah, he said, is a time for Jews to unite in prayer and celebration. ?
“This is a time to ask as an individual and as a community for repentance for individuals we have wronged.” ?Peck added, “We do that as a prayer for all humanity.”
Here at USM, Jewish students are doing more to educate and create a sense of community. ?Peck, who is also the faculty advisor for Hillel, a student group that promotes Jewish life on campus said, “This is the second year [Hillel is] in active involvement with students, faculty and staff.” ?Peck says that Hillel has events planned that will bring together Jewish students, along with Christians, Muslims and other USM community members.
Standish remains skeptical about the sense of community among Jewish students.
“I don’t feel like there is a real strong Jewish community at USM. ?Andrea [Thompson McCall] likes to think there is.” ?Standish, who is not a member of Hillel, said “what makes it difficult is everyone’s political beliefs.” ?She said, “I feel close to other Jewish students regardless of those political beliefs.”