Happy and Healthy Holidays to our Jewish and Muslim Sisters

We at WISDOM would like to wish everyone of the Jewish and Muslim faiths happy and health holidays.

Rosh Hashanah, the first Jewish holiday of the year, begins at sundown on Wednesday, September 12th and ends at sundown on Friday, September 14th. Rosh Hashanah literally means “head of the year” and is New Year’s Day for the Jewish people. Rosh Hashanah commemorates the day when God created Adam and Eve. At this time God judges everyone and weighs their good deeds, or mitzvot, next to their sins. Thus, Rosh Hashanah is also called the Day of Judgment. If you have a superabundance of good deeds, you will immediately be inscribed in God’s Book of Life and Blessing. If you have way too many sins, and you are wicked, you will be inscribed in the Book for Death and Misfortune. Most people, however, are not in either of these extremes. So God gives people an extra ten days to improve their lives by committing to the Ten Commandments, and by asking their fellow human beings for forgiveness for hurtful words that may have been said, or hurtful acts that may have been committed during the year. Jews are supposed to be mindful of making peace and reconciliation.

These ten days of repentance end on Yom Kippur, which begins at sundown on Friday, September 21st and ends at sundown on Saturday, September 22nd. This repentance must be accompanied by a commitment to change. Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement, the day when God’s written decree for each Jewish person for the coming year is about to be sealed. This day is supposed to be spent fasting, in prayer and meditation, in confession of sin, and in reconciliation with God and with his/her fellow man and woman.

For the Muslims, Ramadan begins on Thursday, September 13th and continues for 30 days until Friday the 12th of October. During Ramadan, which is the name of both a month of the year and a period of religious observance, adults embark on a rigidly observed period of abstention, reflection, and purification. Between sunrise and sunset during Ramadan, adult Muslims do not smoke, eat, drink or have sex. They are encouraged to read the Koran from beginning to end during the holy month, which celebrates the first revelation of the Islamic scriptures to Mohammad. Ramadan is devoted to acts of charity and forgiveness, similar to the Jewish holy days. Ramadan is rooted in God’s merciful nature, and its success depends upon the Muslims’ sincere desire to repent before others, and to engage in acts of kindness and charity. This month-long sacrifice leads Muslims to a greater intimacy with God and helps them purify earthly desires.