Yes, here it is, New Year’s Eve, and I am faced once more with thinking:
“Again?”
After all, didn’t I just finish honoring the Jewish New Year, Rosh HaShanah, and all it entails—including soul-searching and resolving to improve myself in terms of personal relationships, self-control, and all things green?
And I must admit that the whirlwind of beginning yet another school year as well as the new training cycle I have undertaken with half a dozen B’nai Mitzvah students keeps me ever-mindful of the tick-tick-ticking of time and the consequences of wasting it vs using it wisely.
Still, beginning again = hope…don’t you think?
So my wish for you this night is that we may all embrace Hope:
-Hope for Peace (perfect wholeness) between peoples, between family members, within oneself
-Hope for improved use of one’s time, one’s resources, one’s creativity
-Hope for shared wisdom, shared humility, shared compassion, shared blessings
And one more thing:
Let’s stay in touch!
Tags [beginning, new year, jewish, hope]
Jewniquely Myself 
We as Jews have the double responsibility for reflection, redemption, and creating a spiritual/psychic clean slate for ourselves twice a year; Call it the luck of the draw as far as the alendar is concerned, but the fact that both these holidays fall within the last four or five months of the year is no accident. Shorter days, longer nights, cooler weather, and the earth going into slow-mo are the ideal backdrop for a new year. We as Jews are also given a bonus in the form of a new year that is secular, and this free from strictly religious considerations. Yes, you just did your cleaning up for the new year, but look at it this way-you don’t have to do this again for another nine months.
Thank you for your thoughtful remarks, Alyssa! Yes, we as Jews are expected to remain ever mindful of what we do, how we interact with G/D, other humans and all /Creation. The Jewish calendar reminds us daily, weekly, seasonally, etc, the festivals we celebrate, the intertwining of natural and spiritual events,and of course our most frequent reminder, Shabbot. Blessings to you, and please stay in touch!