"Knowledge is learning something every day. Wisdom is letting go of something every day." (Zen Proverb)

The penitential season lasts beyond Rosh Hashanah, and even past the “locking of the gates” at Yom Kippur’s close.  There are traditions that claim we have time through “The Great Hosanna” at the end of Sukkot to firmly get into a New Year’s state of mind.  We should continue to contemplate the need to acquire new knowledge and behaviors in the year to come, and also ponder the wisdom of letting go of those emotions, attitudes, and relationships that would weigh us down in the New Year. [If the calendar would charge as much for extra baggage as today’s airlines, we all could be healthier by packing light].

A folk tradition that grew in popularity for its ritual symbolism as well as its social setting is called tashlikh.  It literally means “casting” and refers to the act of casting one’s “sins” into flowing water, to be washed away before the New Year began.  Jewish communities would meet on Rosh Hashanah afternoon near a river, and use bread crumbs to make the act of casting-off more tangible. 

We invite you to use our 21st century form of E-Tashlikh, to meditate on those items from which you want release, and, by honestly articulating them one by one, resolve to cast them off before getting too deeply into the New Year. 

Instuctions:

Go to your internet provider and compose a new email to yourself, subject line: “Shed my extra baggage.” Feel free to use the guided meditation below to come up with the exact nature of “baggage” that you want to shed before progressing into the New Year.  As you recite the meditation, at the blanks in the narrative write down in the email your list of behaviors and attitudes that should be cast-off. As in the traditional penitential prayers, the suggested list is an alphabetical acrostic, to help stimulate your memory. 

At the end click "REFRESH." You will have cast off your burdens into the great "Internet Sea," and be able to start the New Year refreshed.  [For extra credit, cast off the past, and then sign up at www.pjll.org  for learning new wisdom in the year to come.]

Time flies! So as time rushes past us, let us be ready to take off into the New Year; a year open for all possibilities.  But before we take off, one must pass through security, opening our baggage for inspection by the TSA (Teshuva [repentance] Saves Aggravation).

First open your duffle bag- that place where you stuff the feelings you want to hide, the fears you want to hide from… Open the bag wide and expose it to the light of day. Say your wishes out loud: "I want to lose my feelings of anxiety, belligerence, contempt for others, _______________."

Now open your suit bag, where you store the behaviors and strategies that clothe your personality.  Renounce degrading speech, endorsing injustice, fanning the flames of jealousy, ______________.

Next open your hand-luggage, where reactions and responses are kept at the ready.  Reject the games you play in relationships, the heartache you have carried for years, the intolerance you show to others, _____________.

Now show how wise a packer you can be, replacing those items that weigh you down with items that will be the air beneath your wings: joy in everyday living, knowledge of self, love of humanity, __________________.

Take one last look at your baggage; Think of what else you can leave behind in the past year. Say it aloud and hit "REFRESH."

You are now free to get up and walk around the calendar.  Shanah Tovah.