For many, Labour Day weekend marks the end of one year and the start of another. Summer vacation is over and a new school year begins, renewing the calendar for so many families.
This year, just one week after Labour Day, the new moon on Sunday evening marks the start of Rosh Hashana [literally, “head of the year”], welcoming the Jewish year 5779.
Rosh Hashana starts a 10 day season of personal reflection, culminating in Yom Kippur, taking place this year on the evening of Tuesday, September 18 and continuing until night falls the following day. In religious services, we hear the stentorian blast of a shofar [ram’s horn], triggering a period of introspection, examining the past year while looking forward to improvement in the year ahead. There are, of course, family dinners that customarily feature a number of traditional foods, like honey [for a sweet year]. It is very different from the kind of festivities and partying that mark the secular transition from December 31 to January 1.
It is my hope that 5779 will be marked by peace, good health, by personal and professional growth and may it also be a year of inspiration for all of us.
Our offices will be closed on Monday and Tuesday (September 10 and 11) and closed again the following Wednesday (September 19) to observe the holy days.
שנה טובה ומתוקה