3...2...1... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Wednesday September 28 is what we call "Erev Rosh Hashana", or New Year's Eve.  But unlike December 31, we won't be revelling and drinking champagne, putting on masks or watching a ball drop in the Western Wall Plaza in Jerusalem.

Nope.  Many Jews will be in their synagogues, praying for redemption and forgiveness for their sins and transgressions(yes, that is done on Rosh Hashana as well as Yom Kippur - more on that later).  

I, personally, will be with my family having dinner at my aunt's house.  It's a tradition and if I were to go to shul, I would miss out on the family dinner.

This year we will likely go to my inlaw's shul for the first day and our shul for the second day.

The theme of Rosh Hashana, besides being one of asking forgiveness is roundness.  By that I mean, we eat a lot of round stuff - apples, round challahs.  This symbolizes fullness and completion - we have live through and completed the last full year - we are ready for the next one!

Why two days?

Why two days? I used to ask this all the time - but now I know. 

We observe two days in the Diaspora (anywhere that is not Israel) because of the possibility of misinterpretation of dates.  The times are different, the planets have aligned differently than they did 5700 some odd years ago (5772, by the way). We want to make sure we don't miss the boat and celebrate the wrong day.  Therefore, we celebrate/observe for two days (only one for Yom Kippur - thank goodness! 27 hours of fasting is more than enough for me, thankyouverymuch!)

Rosh Hashana, "The New Year" in Hebrew, is a deeply spiritual holiday. The New Year commemorates the creation of the world (Adam and Eve were created on Rosh Hashana) and each year the world's existence is extended for another year, created anew, as it were. Mankind is also included in this new creation every year.

The New Year is an obvious time for judgment (which is why Rosh Hashana is also called Yom HaDin, literally "Judgment Day"). Every creation we make, whether it is in art, business or even cooking, is judged by us. At some point we will step back and evaluate our creation. Does it live up to expectations? Are we pleased with it? What are its faults? On this, the anniversary of our creation, God does the same with us. We are evaluated, hence the "Day of Judgment".

This day is deeply spiritual because on judgment day, not unlike what happens when a person is waiting to hear a court sentence, we are forced to reflect on ourselves. Did I live up to God's expectation of me? Is God pleased with me? What are my faults? Because of the intense mood of the moment this day presents the most powerful spiritual opportunity available -- the opportunity for us to reflect on how we can elevate ourselves to a higher plane. What does God want from me? He wants me to be on His team. How am I judged? Have I lived my year pursuing self-gratification, or have I grown closer to God in thought and deed? Am I making this world a better place to live in?

This is the judgment on Rosh Hashana, these are the questions, and with this understanding the opportunities for spiritual growth are unparalleled. Dig in and enjoy the potential. Rosh Hashana is the spiritual world's prime time (from Aish.com)

So yeah - no revillrie until after midnight.  No glowing ball of  lights dropping in a public square.  But lots of friends, family, food and fun.  (hee hee - f-words!! HA HA HA!!) And some praying just to let G-d know we thank and appreciate him for all that he has given us and that we promise to do better throughout the coming year.

Israel.... Is Real!!!

So last night I attended my JWRP Orientation meeting.  OH MY GOODNESS!! I can not wait to go on this trip!!!!

The ladies all seem so fabulous and we will be sharing a bus with the Minnesota contingent.  My roommate Sheri seems like a really sweet woman - I think we'll have no problem sharing a room. 

I will post my itinerary later, but here are some of the highlights:

*A visit to an orphanage
*A visit to an army base
*A trip up Masada and a naming ceremony
*A trip to the Dead Sea.
*Shabbat dinner at Aish, and visits to the Kotel (The western wall)
*Lori Palatnik is going to be there!!!

For those of you who don't know who Lori Palatnik is, she's a woman who is very involved with Aish Ha'Torah.  She speaks frequently and has a video blog on Aish.com.  She always has inspiring things to say in her blog and I can't wait to meet her and speak with her and listen to her speak to and inspire us!!!

I got my JWRP knapsack last night, too and already it contains my passport, my itinerary and my notebook.  I, of course, will journal my trip and if I can use the computers in the business centre at the hotel, I hope to be able to upload some photos onto the blog, Facebook, etc.

It seems so real now that we've gotten our itinerary!!  32 more days!!!!!!

Passports, Notary Publics and Baloney

So, I alluded to the passport issue in my previous post.

Since I didn't discuss it in my post prior to my previous post, let me tell you the story of my Passport and my journey to renew it.

After finding out I had been accepted on the JWRP trip in October, I was advised that I would need to send a copy of my passport to my city leader, Paula.  Okay. No problem. Just got to find the passports we just used in December...  easy peasy... right?

WRONG!!

Somehow we have managed to lose the folder with ALL FOUR passports in it.  In our house.  Now, our house is definitely not clean.  It's not Hoarder messy, but it's "we have two kids, a lot of stuff and work full time" messy.  But it shouldn't have been so hard to find one little black folder (from "Black's") with four passports in it.

We ransacked the house.  We looked in the suitcases.  We emptied the safe.  We emptied boxes we haven't accessed in the 3 years we've been in the house  We turned drawers upside down.  Matthew emptied his shelves in the wardrobe.  We looked under the TV in our bedroom.  I looked in the dresser, our night stands, in the closet.  You name it, we looked in it.  Even in places we should not have to look because we wouldn't have put our passports there.

No passports.  The MOST annoying thing about having to renew my passport?  I JUST RENEWED MY PASSPORT LAST YEAR!!  I still have 3½ years left on my 5 year passport!!!

So, I had to reapply.  Ran down to the passport office with my old passport (yes, I could find an OLD passport!), ID, birth certificate, photos, guarantor (thank you Rhonda) signature, and application.  Oh - and the form filled out that said my old passport was "inaccessable".

I stood in a loooong line for about a half an hour, approached the desk and the person (the ONE person working in a government office on a Friday in August) said "oh.  You need to get this form signed by a notary public."  A WHAT!? WHY!?  Well, okay.  I could go to the notary publics in the area of the passport office and pay 40 dollars.  No. I decided I'd go home, since I wouldn't have time to run back to the office and wait, (we were going away that Friday afternoon) I would do it the following Monday since I was on holiday that week, anyway.  I found a Notary Public in my neighbourhood and went over there to have him sign it.  This is where the Baloney part of the post comes in.

It cost me $30 cash for the notary public to sign and stamp my form.  The whole meeting took about 5 minutes.  This guy (very nice lawyer, by the way) looked at my form, said I was supposed to sign it in front of him (I'd already signed it), had me sign a Post-It so he could compare the signatures, asked no questions about my lost passport, took my $30, stamped it with his embossing stamp and wished me a safe trip.

Now - he was friendly and I have no complaints about this gentleman. In fact, if ever I need the services of a notary public again, I will likely call upon him.  Just the Baloney (and yes, I do mean another word there, but there might be young children about when people are reading this - and I'm trying to swear less) part is that this guy doesn't know me from Eve and basically took my word for it and signed a form for a complete and total stranger for a cash price. That is the Baloney.  The government requires this form to be signed, but to they realize that probably 9 times out of 10, the notary public hasn't a clue on the veracity of the story the person who needs a notary?

Oh well.

The best part of the whole thing?  My passport was to be mailed on August 23.  I received it on August 21!  YAY!!!

44 More Days!

That's right.  In 44 days I will be on a plane high above the ocean, winging my way to the beautiful land of Israel. 

My Passport issue has been solved (have I mentioned my passport issue?  The fact that all four of our passports from our trip to the US in December are all lost - but inside our house!?  That I had to apply for a replacement and it came 2 days before they told me it was even going to be mailed?  Of course, it now has a nice sticker in it that will let any immigration people know that my original was lost.  I suppose it's more to say "this is the REAL passport and anyone travelling under the other passport number is a fraud!!)

I will be participating in the  Jewish Women's Renaissance Project "Transform and Grow" (T.A.G.) trip, October 2011!! (for more info go to http://www.jwrp.org/)

So this has made me reflect.  What does the Land of Israel mean?

For Christians, it is the birthplace of Jesus in Bethlehem.  For Muslims, the Dome of the Rock on Temple Mount is where Mohammed ascended to Heaven and where the mosque is decorated with verses from the Koran.  For Jews, Temple Mount is where Abraham nearly sacrificed his son Isaac.

It's amazing to think that the Christians, Jews and Muslims all have such significant ties to the land, yet, there is always so much struggle, strife and conflict in the nation.

What am I looking forward to about my trip?  Well, for starters, it is my first trip to the Holy Land.  I've never been to Israel! 
I can't wait to see the Western Wall The Kotel, and to pray there and put notes from my family and friends in the wall. 
I can't wait to see Jerusalem.  As much of it as I possibly can. 
I can't wait to see Tiberias and the Jordan River!  And Tsfat!
I can't wait to climb Masada (okay - take a cable car up Masada). 
I can't wait to float in the Dead Sea.
I can't wait to eat in Sarah and Abraham's tent.
I can't wait to meet the 58 other people going on this trip from Toronto and the other two cities in the US that will be on the trip.
I can't wait to spend Shabbat in the Holy Land
I can't wait to find out what our Madrichim have to teach us women about our culture, our religion and our values.
I can't wait to bring all these lessons home and teach them to my family and friends.
I can't wait to see what transformation  I will undergo on this trip.
I can't wait to see what I will learn.  There is so much!!
I can't wait to spend an evening on Ben Yehuda Street and eat gelato and go to Aroma!
I can't wait to SHOP!!!  I want to get some skirts and tichels! 

I'm sure there are a million other things I can't wait to do that I don't even know I can't wait to do until I get there and realize I couldn't wait to do those things!!

44 more days!!