Holidays, especially those with spiritual or religious trappings, are supposed to be a time for us to be able to relax. We’re told to take the day off, go home from school or work, and spend quality time with those closest to us.
For Jews, holidays are not supposed to have that modern emphasis on kicking back and making one’s mind a total blank. Working is certainly forbidden on such holidays as the New Year, or Rosh Hashanah, which started yesterday evening and is observed until Friday, but this is done rather to ensure that everyone is able to observe the holiday properly, and so that no one is allowed to earn money in lieu of attending to matters of the spirit. Done properly, these holidays usually involve more work than actually going to work.
On the first week of the New Year, Jews are required to atone for all the sins they’ve occurred over the past twelve months. This involves some heavy soul-searching-not exactly putting your feet up and drinking a Bud, although that sacramental wine can have quite a kick to it.
Unfortunately, in a society with such multifarious cultural allegiances, which grants (or tries to grant) equal footing to the traditions of any and all religious denominations, one finds that it’s increasingly possible for us to reject the business of holidays altogether. We neither relax, sleep, nor worship: we just catch up on work.
It’s not unusual for someone to view Christmas Eve as an opportunity to stay late at the office, or to use Easter to get a head start on your tax return. Which brings me to the question of why I’m writing this now, having abandoned my family to eat my Mom’s cooking and ring in the New Year without me.
It certainly couldn’t be the lucrativeness of writing for this paper. Perhaps a misplaced sense of duty is responsible: I’m just another whitewashed minority who’d rather compare American Idols than wonder what the messiah’s going to look like. Oh well…sorry, Grandma. Happy New Year to all of you who need one.
