Message from Elliott

We as Jewish people think of the period near Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur as the “holiday season.” Yom
Kippur has been the most important Jewish Holiday of the year for many centuries, and it cannot be denied that
from a religious perspective it holds a unique place at the top of the holiday hierarchy.

However, if you ask Jewish people what their favorite holiday is, or which holiday is the most important to them, they probably won’t say the Day of Atonement. For many, Passover holds that place in their hearts. I would argue that Jews have two holiday seasons, one in the fall and another in the spring. The combination of Tu B’shvat, Purim, and Passover create a wonderful arc of understanding that is critical to the Jewish people.

Starting with Tu B’shvat, we enter a season of celebration, of joy, and of memory making. We start off by celebrating the world around us, planting trees, and eating berries, seeds, and nuts. We are supposed to go out and actively make the natural world a better place.

We are merely stewards of this planet, and it falls to us to complete and maintain the work of creation through acts of Tikkun Olam, repairing the world.

One month later, we celebrate Purim in which we tell stories, eat food, drink (sometimes too heavily), and remember who we are. By telling the story of Esther, Mordechai, and Haman (BOOOOOOO), we remember that while we are integral parts of our mainstream society, we are by our very existence different and separate. Sometimes that comes under threat, but the reminder of Purim is that we come out stronger on the
other end. We promise during Purim to never forget who we are and to support one another when the times get hard.

One month later, we celebrate Passover and give thanks for our freedoms, committing to make the world a better place in the year to come. Pesach combines our traditions, our faith, our ideas of family, and the stories we have that make our people unique. Without the Passover story and the Seder that goes
along with it, I would argue that we don’t really have much as a faith. Not only is the story of the Exodus from Egypt critical to our understanding of our relationship with G-d, but that storied journey is the most critical aspect of what it means to be Jewish on a cultural level as well.

Almost each month of the calendar has a Jewish holiday in it, but I have always particularly enjoyed the spring cluster. For me, this is the “holiday season” where I can be with family and friends, laugh until I cry, dance until I am sore, and eat until I am full to bursting. If that’s not what life is all about, then I don’t know what is!

I hope that you all can join us at our celebrations coming up this season. Come eat, drink, and be joyful with us!

Elliott McCarthy