5781...that is the year it will be this weekend as we celebrate Rosh Hashanah...the Jewish New Year...and I am thinking...is there a prayer stronger...more fervent and heartfelt...and communal...than for this year to be over...but alas...we are a few months from 2021...the New Year's eve clock hitting midnight...when this shit show...known as 2020 ends...this past April...when we were trapped inside at Passover...praying that Covid would pass us over...and it did for many...but for so many others it did not...weren't we all hanging on to that thread of hope that we would be seated at tables with family and friends Rosh Hashanah...and now again we adjust...and maybe stop thinking too far ahead...it is too depressing...I'm thinking of Rosh Hashanahs of years ago...the wonderful aromas from kitchens...the sparkle of crystal...setting after setting...always room for one more...the hugs and smiles...and now it leaves me wanting...feeling like a hamster in a cage...stuck in that wheel going nowhere...watching honey drip from that spoon onto apple slices...which we eat to symbolize the eternal hope for sweetness in life...and this year I think we should wish each other the following too...may we be healthy...and live so that we might look back on these turbulent times...and close our eyes in thanks...amen
