Reflection

by Nicholas Allen — September 13, 2007

Today is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and I'm heading to New Jersey to spend the day with my family. Patricia isn't Jewish, so she'll be staying here in the City to work. We talked about her possibly coming out later in the day to have dinner with my family and me. Ultimately, we decided against it on logistical grounds. Although neither of us said it, however, I think there was a sense on both our parts that, considering she isn't Jewish, it might be a bit early in our relationship for her to spend the holiday with my family.

For those unfamiliar with the holiday, Jewish tradition claims that, on the first night of Rosh Hashanah, the gates of heaven are opened and God opens the Book of Life. Between now and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), God will inscribe the fate of mankind for the coming year into the Book of Life, closing the Book at sunset on Yom Kippur. As the Unetaneh Tokeh--one of the prayers composing the High Holy Days liturgy--explains it:

"On Rosh Hashanah it is written, and on Yom Kippur it shall be sealed: How many shall pass away and how many shall be born; who shall live and who shall die; whose life cut short and whose life lived full."

I can't claim to be an especially spiritual or religious man, but I tend to take stock and reflect on my life during the High Holy Days (the period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) in ways that I don't during the secular New Year. I don't know what the coming year holds for me or for those I care about. But I do know one thing: I hope Patricia is here with me during the coming year, that our relationship keeps going and that it grows into what I suspect it could grow into.

To my Jewish readers out there, I wish you L'shana Tova. And to everybody, I wish you a great rest of the week. I'll see you again on Saturday!

Nicholas Allen is a writer and columnist based in Manhattan. To read all of his blogs, click here.