Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on September 27, 2022

On both days of Rosh Hashanah, we end our prayers with a prayer for the day when all of Gods creations realize that He equally created us all and empowers all that works in this world.

Shamai Grossman| Guest Columnist

Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah: The Jewish High Holy Days, explained

Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah are the Jewish High Holy Days. They're the two most important holidays of the year, and are very differently observed.

USA TODAY, Wochit

The United Kingdom just marked the passing of the longest-reigning monarch in British history, Queen Elizabeth II, and will be coronating its first monarch in over 70 years. Despite Queen Elizabeths remarkable reign, monarchies are a relic of the past. Of the worlds 195 countries today, fewer than 25% have monarchies. Only seven countries have absolute ruling monarchs, another eight have semi-constitutional monarchies, while about twenty-eight countries support constitutional (ceremonial) monarchies.

In the 21st century the idea of a ruling monarchy in a democratic society is anathema. Long ago the Founding Fathers of this country realized that unless leadership was subject to a system of checks and balances, including term limits, the ability to impeach with potential to remove a president from office, and executive veto of a law with legislative veto override, democratic society could not safely function and flourish.

Yet, in contrast to current practice, Jews around the world again on Rosh Hashanah celebrated the coronation of God as king. Judaism reaffirms itself year after year as a people fully subject to a king, unfettered by checks and balances, and unencumbered by term limits or veto of legislation. Each year on Rosh Hashanah Jews spend much of their days in synagogue engaged in prayers focused on inducting God once more as king.

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Rosh Hashanahs central prayers focus on kingship, not on soliciting God for each individuals needs. He is asked to abrogate foreign gods and aberrant worship and repair the world. Instead of praying for a better job or a more elaborate home, our Rosh Hashanah prayers are closer to political campaign speeches, spending much time reiterating Gods accomplishments as King.

These prayers recap the saving of Noah and his animals, Gods promises and covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and His redemption of our ancestors from Egypt. These prayers laud God as both the first and last king, the king without term limits who cannot be subjected to a veto.

In Judaism, we strongly believe that there is still a role for the majesty and grand honor bestowed on our leader. In doing so we recognize that God is the ultimate leader who only has our best interests at heart.

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Were contemporary society to have a leader who only had our best interests at heart, we would not need systems with checks and balances, veto and impeachment.

Can we even envision such a leader, one who only had out best interests at heart, whose only wishes were for our success?

Were that to be the case, wouldnt we want to elect and reelect that leader each year? Wouldnt we only want to look to him for guidance and place in him our hopes for the future? Wouldnt we only want to assist him in his efforts to better our society and the world around us?

On both days of Rosh Hashanah, we end our prayers with a prayer for the day when all of Gods creations realize that He equally created us all and empowers all that works in this world.

May all of our leaders realize that it is God who created them and He who empowers them with the one goal of making this a better world.

Rabbi Dr. Shamai Grossman grew up in Memphis and is now associate professor of medicine and emergency medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Vice Chair for Health Care Quality, Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston.

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How Rosh Hashanah compares to the coronation of a monarch | Opinion - Commercial Appeal

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