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A New Year: Why not a New Holiday?
By Rabbi Jerome M. Epstein
As we begin to count down to the secular New Year – and with Hanukkah just
behind us and Tu B’Shevat not too far in the distance – it is a good time to
take stock of the Jewish holidays we celebrate each year.
Some holidays are commanded in the Torah itself. Thus, we are told to observe
the three Pilgrimage Festivals (Pesah, Shavuot and Sukkot). Other holidays are
post-Torah and derive from our historical experience as a people. Hanukkah, for
example, commemorates an incident that occurred in 165 BCE, while Purim, though
historically less certain, is said to recount a remarkable story of salvation
that occurred in Persia in the 4th or 5th century B.C.E.
Two of our most recently created commemorations, Yom HaShoah and Yom
Ha’atzmaut, were established by legislation to memorialize significant events in
our collective history. In 1949, the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) created Yom
Ha’Atzmaut to celebrate the founding of the State of Israel in our time. In
1955, the same body established a permanent day for commemorating the Holocaust
that befell our people in the first half of the twentieth century. (In fact, the
Knesset has the ability to change the days on which these holidays are observed
– as they did last year with Yom Ha’atzmaut.)
It may be that today – a time of insecurity, violence, and frustration – we need
a new holiday. Perhaps it is time to institute a new structure through which we
can express our collective feelings of unease and meld our voices together in a
plea for a more secure future. I would, therefore, like to suggest that we
institute a holiday of peace – Yom HaShalom, a day on which all Jews will be
encouraged to recite selections from the very many prayers, psalms, and
blessings through which the Jewish people have for millennia implored God to
grant peace to us and to all humankind.
While it is true that we already recite prayers for peace during both weekday
and Shabbat davening, many of us rush through these daily recitations, giving
little thought to what we are saying. Nothing focuses the mind as wonderfully as
a holiday with its own ritual, foods, melodies, and liturgy. If that’s what it
will take to focus our minds on peace, it’s well worth the effort.
We wouldn’t have far to look for liturgy: We are told in the Bible to seek peace
and pursue it; prayers for peace abound in the siddur, and we greet each other
with the word shalom. It is a key concept, a primary value, in our tradition.
Each of the Jewish streams could provide its members with a collection of
readings to recite while sitting at work, attending to various errands, or
during a meditative lunch hour. Chances are, many of us already say brief,
private prayers for peace when we hear of the latest terrorist bombings or
military campaigns.
As part of this new observance, we might commit ourselves to see a movie or read
a book about efforts to achieve peace. We might also attend lectures and
participate in gatherings that pay tribute to seekers of peace in our time, with
attendees encouraged to bring in the names of people they feel are worthy of
emulation.
Still, real peace requires concrete initiatives. It is too easy for any one
person to regard a contribution to peace-making as being beyond his or her
grasp. On Yom HaShalom, each Jew should feel inspired to make a meaningful
contribution to one of the many organizations that work to foster peace. Of
equal importance must be the realization that universal peace can only evolve
from small – and sometimes seemingly insignificant – peace initiatives. Harmony
between individuals becomes the foundation for peace between civilizations. To
truly actualize Yom HaShalom, let each of us reach out to at least one person
with whom we currently experience some tension or enmity and make a good-faith
effort to improve relations.
If the holiday catches on, we can share it with our neighbors, inviting others
to join us in affirming the value of peace. In this way, we will truly serve as
an or l’goyim, a light unto the nations.
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