A new experience. Last night, under indoor "stars", we went with friends to my first Havdallah service and also my first Selichot service. Truth be told, I never even heard of Havdallah until cousin Harvey bought two Havdallah sets when we went to Israel in 2011. Selichot kicks off the Jewish New Year with the blowing of the shofar, a lovely call for Jews everywhere to gather. Both services were beautiful (and accompanied by a fantastic oneg). If I had to summarize their meaning quickly I would say they are are both about starting anew, a new week and a new year and a new chance for improvement.
The beauty of every sunrise is that no matter how old you are or how much you have screwed up in the past, each new day offers the opportunity for a do-over. And every do-over starts with an honest assessment of where you went wrong and a vow to make amends and do better. And so the service started with probing questions about how well one did the past year.
I think I passed, it was a very good year...
L' Shanah Tovah!
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