A few days ago I happened upon some event of old people which was dedicated to the Tishrei holidays. I came there out of “anthropological interest”, with the intention of keeping a distance and avoiding involvement. Hoping to watch the developing interaction between people in a forum like this and hear their reactions to the content of the lecture that will be at the center of the event.
The guest lecturer was a facilitator of women’s empowerment workshops. Like there are many others, “empowerment” has become very popular in our places. The lecture was quite interesting and fascinated its listeners.
The lecturer reiterated her belief that people can make a breakthrough in their lives at any age, renew themselves and turn a new page. And as we know, the hope for renewal (or is it an illusion?) returns and is renewed every year in preparation for the Tishrei holidays. It can be said that there is a kind of constant and recurring ritual here.
That lecture called in my head the song “A different renewal” by Naomi Shemer (composed by Yuval Dor). The song carries a promise, to say:
….after the holidays everything will resume
The days of the week will be renewed and returned
The air, the rain, the dirt and the fire
you too
you too
Renew.
The mentioned elders’ forum seems essential to me. It is evident that its participants are thirsty for meetings that break the loneliness that accompanies old age. But there was a ritual at the meeting that seemed to me quite infantile and embarrassing. And so, for example, each of those present was asked by the organizers to write Happy New Year wishes on a greeting card with a picture of an apple in honey emblazoned on the top. to write wishes without knowing who the recipient of his wishes is. The greeting cards were distributed to those present at the end of the lecture, and thus everyone greeted and was blessed.
I shared with a friend the embarrassment caused to me by the infantile festive ritual, at least in my eyes. “That’s how it is,” he responded. “In old age, people return to preschool age.”
Natan Yonatan’s song – “We will start over again” – composed and sung by Tzvika Pik also connected in my head to that lecture. And so the song begins:
Again we will start over, as everyone starts
The forest, the collection, the poet, the leaves
falling with the wind pearls of the dew
And the wave rowing to its steep shoresOf course, the months of the year also begin,
Tishrei and Hashvan and Kaslo
Fragrant new autumn settles in the garden
to watch how the winter passes
And later on, the song talks about the stubborn hope, which returns again and again, for a new beginning:
…again we will start again, as everyone starts
We will play the song with the same words
that never tire like waves
Answer without stopping
To the great sea
To the steep beach sands
The guest lecturer, whom she “coaches for empowerment”, spoke of the Tishrei holidays as a repeated and renewed opportunity for renewal, for “inner work” and turning a new page.
It’s time to decide to erase soul-poisoning negative emotions. Get rid of feelings of jealousy, calculating, vindictiveness. Reconcile and not be afraid to take a brave step like asking for forgiveness. and even to reconnect with nuclear family members with whom contact has been severed. Sometimes, the lecturer commented, the reconciled people no longer even remember what was the cause of the conflict that caused them to disconnect for years.
Then, following the lecture, I asked the lecturer-coach: Is it possible to work on ourselves, to have “inner work”, while completely disconnecting from the murky reality around us? From the politics and corruption, the bubbling violence, the rising cost, the security situation as well as the shadow of the “occupation” that has been clouding our lives for 55 years?
The lecturer repeated and said that she believes in renewal in any situation and at any age.
New Age beliefs also permeated the lecture. We were all asked to close our eyes, breathe deeply and memorize the name of someone we especially love. The lecturer-trainer promised that this simple exercise changes lives, that our lives will change at once and we will experience feelings of elation and inner cleanliness.
I don’t know if anyone present “bought” the false promise. In any case, expressions of reservation and skepticism were not heard there. I was impressed that everyone obediently followed the coach’s instructions. It is well known that people in their distress cling to New Age theories and various empowerment workshops.
By the nature of the language “after the holidays” is known to be used by procrastinators. Most of us, like all of us, are prone to procrastination. Accumulated tasks, unfinished business, plans, elimination of arrears – all these are postponed to an unspecified date, to “after the holidays”. And of course it makes it difficult to open a new page.
By the nature of the language “after the holidays” is known to be used by procrastinators. Most of us, like all of us, are prone to procrastination. Accumulated tasks, unfinished business, plans, clearing arrears – all these are postponed to an unspecified date, to “after the holidays”
It seems to me that in “Tishrei Song” by Rachel Shapira, composed by Dani Amihud, concerns are also hinted at from the mental calculus accompanying the Tsheri holidays, and perhaps some concern is also hinted at what the future holds that will begin again. It seems that the house is remembered in the song as a refuge and an anchor of security. The one and only Chava Elberstein sings the magical song:
someone is thinking of you
and records your actions.
come home soon
with the cool wind.…. What will happen and what will pass?
the reporters ask.
Along the coastal road
The stones are stabilized.What’s in the papers tonight?
Foreshadowing the title?
come home soon
with the cool wind
come home soon
with the cool wind.
And happy new year to all of us!