Rosh Hashanah

A message for the Jewish New Year

(BBC1, 17th September 1998, 11.15-11.35pm)
Producer: John Kirby

As the Jewish community prepares to celebrate the feast of Rosh Hashanah which heralds the Jewish New Year, Chief Rabbi Dr Jonathan Sacks addresses the issue of just what it is to be a Jew today and investigates how faith gives shape and direction to a life.

"On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the Jewish High Holy Days, we do more than pray," says Dr Jonathan Sacks at the beginning of his broadcast. "Speaking to God, we reflect on how we live and what are our ultimate values. For many of us - Jews and non-Jews alike - faith is more than time out from our daily schedule. Faith is our lexicon of ideals, the horizon of our journey, the landscape in which we choose a path. It shapes what we do and who we aspire to be."

To develop this theme, the Chief Rabbi discusses faith with a number of leading Jews:-

In Edinburgh he talks to Judge Hazel Cosgrove about why Judaism is a religion that cares so passionately about justice.

In London he meets Robert Winston, Professor of Fertility and presenter of the recent BBC series "The Human Body". The biblical texts that are read on Rosh Hashanah are about the treatment of infertility - about Sarah's longing for a child; Hannah, too; and Rachel, "weeping for her children because they are not".

Maureen Lipman, star of the National Theatre's "Oklahoma", talks to the Chief Rabbi about the importance of humour for Jews. Is it a way of preserving hope by being able to pre-emptively disarm despair?

Dr Sacks concludes this year's Rosh Hashanah broadcast by emphasising that the ideals of the great faiths continue to change the world - from bringing new life into the world, helping to make laughter instead of tears, and bringing justice into society.

"On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur God asks us the fundamental question of all - for what do we live? We are as big as our ideals, as great as our aspirations. In a world which seems governed by the market on the one hand and fun on the other, faith offers a third possibility: that we live not for what we can buy or what we can enjoy but also for the difference we can make to other lives and to the world. Can we become God's partner in mending a fractured world?"

Thoughts from the programme

Lady Hazel Cosgrove

On her reasons for going into law:

"I was very influenced during my teenage years by what I learned at Hebrew classes.....we studied the Hebrew Bible, and it was the message that comes through from the text of the basic human rights of the dignity...of the individual human being and of the concept of equality before the law - 'Justice, justice thou shalt pursue, that thou mayest live.' It seemed to me that the passion for justice which we find in the Bible is inspirational and studying the law seemed to be a natural progression from that."

On belonging to both the Scottish and Jewish communities:

"It's a great privilege to be able to give and take from both and to try to achieve a synthesis between the two. And the Scots and the Jews have much in common...a love of the Old Testament, strong family traditions, a strong tradition of education, of communal spirit and an enlightened legal system."

On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur - both days of judgement:

"I have this powerful image of God sitting on a throne, as a judge, and I understand the difficult decisions the judge has to make. But we all have a hearing before God, he listens patiently, and if we say we're sorry he forgives us."

Daniel Rynhold (teacher)

On the connection between education and time:

"Education, apart from being [about] passing on information, is also very much to do with passing on values and ideals... the manner in which we acquire our values and ideals is through a sense of community with the past. And it's through placing ourselves within the narrative that continues from the past that we can carry through to the future."

On education beyond the classroom:

"[education in] Judaism...has generally been embodied in a set of actions rather than in a set of beliefs....and I thinking it's actually through constantly aching ...that we educate and create education as well as faith".

"....the responsibility of being a teacher is upon all of us, not just those who are qualified as a professional teacher..."

On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur:

"....it's a time to pause and think and reflect on the kind of person you have been and the kind of person that you want to be. And although it seems like something very natural, if you're not told that this is your time to do it, you probably never get round to it. This is giving you the opportunity, saying 'Stop, you have these days to reflect.'"

Maureen Lipman (actress)

On Jewish family life and roots:

"...[it's] very, very important. It's ritual which makes us feel rooted to the past and rooted to the future. At the beginning of this show I come into sight, playing Aunt Ella churning butter. [There is] quite a long sequence, which establishes a beautiful dawn, and my words to myself are that 'there are roots growing from my feet through this wooden stage and those roots are Oklahoma roots, you know'. ....I think we have to take our roots with us...[tradition] is what you carry with you, it's the shell on your back, it's your home..."

On Jewish humour:

"...There's a humour of self-defence, isn't there, and maybe a great deal of humour comes from making people laugh before they throw a conker at you. I think ....it comes back to being an outsider, in a possibly hostile environment....We are embarrassed by anything that's too Jewish because it's raising our head above the parapet. Humour is probably the one saving grace in whatever situation. It's what protects hope in difficult situations ...or keeps your sanity when everything around you is taking it away."

Yom Kippur:

"Yom Kippur is about meaning to do a lot better, so I'll have another go this year..."

Professor Robert Winston (Lord Winston)

About parenthood and infertility in the Bible:

"One of the things that strikes me on this holiest set of days in the Jewish year, on Rosh Hashanah, [is that] all the biblical readings that we have are about women to can't have children - who pray to have children - Sarah, Rachel and Hannah."

On whether his faith endorsed Robert Winston's work on infertility:

"Yes, I think ..there has been a compulsion...The story of Hannah..is an obvious example because what she palpably exhibits in that story is so clear. There's a cry. Rachel makes a scream ['Give me children...or else I die']. And that pain is really something which I think is felt in modern times. It's not just in a primitive society but it's something which I think all people feel. ...I think essentially there's no question - [Jewish values] has been a major lead and guidance, because there is this notion of life, the respect for life, which is bound up, I think with the idea of Rosh Hashanah.

On accusations that he 'plays God':

"...I think there's a failure to recognise that there is the notion of human ingenuity which is God-given, and that is...properly focused to...augment the works of God. That is what we're about. Obviously in the field that I'm working in there are constant ethical dilemmas, but I can truthfully say that the Jewish principles have always been a very solid basis for making decisions. You don't need to impose your views on other people, but they provide a guide for how you might approach them with other people who are not Jewish.

On Judaism as a guide to life:
"...In Judaism there's such strong logic which is so attractive, there's a pragmatism which is immensely valuable, which...helps one find one's way through what are actually very difficult journeys sometimes."

On Rosh Hashanah:
"It's undoubtedly, to my mind [about] the ultimate respect for human life, which is one of the key aspects of faith."

Implications And Issues

"It can take less than a minute to commit a sin. It takes not as long to obtain God's forgiveness. Penitence and amendment should take a lifetime" (Hubert Van Zeller)

Each year Rosh Hashanah brings the Jewish people to repentance and renewal. In modern society there are few annual occasions for community repentance and renewal. Can you think of any (Armistice Day?) What do you think are the implications of not having communal time and expectation for this sort of activity? Do you think that the public grief and debate which surrounds national or celebrity tragedies (Omagh bombing, events in Sudan, Rwanda, former Yugoslavia, death of famous people etc) has any kind of roots in, or links with, religious concepts of repentance? What might be the implications if society never repents?
From the four accounts, consider what Rosh Hashanah means to Jewish people. Are there any other aspects you could add? Which of the views is closest to your own?
Based on the statements of the four participants, write or discuss what you consider are the distinguishing features of Judaism for them. Discuss how this relates to anything you can find out about Jewish history. What illustrations can you find, in the Jewish Bible and elsewhere, that back up what they say?
"We shall have to repent in this generation, not so much for the evil deeds of the wicked people, but for the appalling silence of the good people." (Martin Luther King) What did Martin Luther King mean? What are the implications of this for everyday life?

A NOTE ON ROSH HASHANAH AND YOM KIPPUR

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, falls on 1 Tishri in the Jewish Calendar (sometime in September or October). It is a time for reflection leading to spiritual renewal. During the Rosh Hashanah service, a ram's horn is blown as a call to repentance, and to this renewal.

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is a time of fasting when sins are confessed and prayers are made to God for forgiveness.

In the Jewish Bible, words such as 'turn' and 'return' are closely associated with texts related to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The fundamental religious idea behind this is of subjects who have rebelled from a king who are now coming back to serve in their rightful place and take their part in the community and before their ruler.