The Message, Volume 39, Number 3, September 2003 Page: 2 of 8
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dk With Rabbi Morgen
A “good”year
happy” one?
or a
1
Student’s Name
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t is a widespread custom at this time of the Jewish year to
I send New Year’s cards to our friends and family members.
J^Some of these pre-printed cards offer the wish for a “happy”
New Year. The traditional holiday greeting, though, is not
“Happy New Year,” as it is in America on
the night of December 31, but rather
“L’Shanah Tovah” - “For a Good Year.”
We Jews don’t have anything against hap-
piness, it is considered by some to be a
mitzvah - a commandment - to be happy.
Why, then, do we say “for a good New
Year?” I think our prayer for a “good” New
Year is for a two-fold goodness.
First, let’s compare “happiness” to
“goodness.” Happiness is a fleet-
ing emotion. We certainly cannot be happy all of /
the time, even for those who see it as a /
mitzvah. Happiness is also too often seen
as an end in itself. We seek, at all cost, to
make ourselves happy. Whatever mate-
rial wealth it takes or whatever form of
entertainment is required, it is okay if we
are pursuing the goal of achieving our
own happiness. That is why in America it
is quite common to attend a wild and ex-
travagant New Year’s Eve party where
people drink and dance and celebrate - to
start the New Year off being “happy.”
Again Judaism does not have any-
thing against being happy. We celebrate on Simhat Torah, on
Purim, on Shavuot, on Yom Ha’atzma’ut, and on many other
occasions. But to mark the New Year, it seems to me, we want
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Stud&nt!
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■ 'J
to focus on what we believe is the ultimate goal. And for
Judaism, the ultimate life goal is not “happiness” but “good-
ness.” For the last several weeks we have been reading from
the Book of Deuteronomy some of the most stirring words,
admonishing us to do what is right and good. In Deuteronomy,
we find the Ten Commandments, the Shema (urging us not
only to be faithful to God and God’s laws, but also to love God
with all our heart, soul and being), commandments to care for
the poor, the stranger, and the weak in society, and the com-
mandment: “Justice, justice shall you pursue.” These laws
represent the essence of our faith, our way of life. We are to be
God’s partners in making the world a good place - not neces-
sarily always a happy place. We are bidden to live a life of
goodness, not necessarily always a life of happiness.
The second aspect of goodness that we wish
n each other is, of course, that the year be full of
good events, good news, and fulfilling
achievements. Many of these will also be
happy occasions: the birth of a child or
grandchild, a wedding, or a bar or bat
mitzvah, for instance. But many good things
happen to us that we do not necessarily
recognize as “happy,” perhaps because we
take them for granted: good health, a steady
job, good friends and a supportive family.
Now is an opportunity for us to thank God
and our friends and family for all of these
good things in our lives.
May we all be blessed with a good New
Year: a year in which we strive to be good and to do good
deeds, and a year in which we are showered with all good
things. L’shanah tovah!
----------------------------!
Help me correspond with your child (or grandchild), wherever he or she is studying.
I also want to send my special Hanukkah and Passover packages! Be sure and ask
your collegian for his or her e-mail address, too. Thanks! - Rabbi Rosen
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Congregation Beth Yeshurun (Houston, Tex.). The Message, Volume 39, Number 3, September 2003, periodical, September 19, 2003; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1318580/m1/2/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.