Secondary: Current Assemblies

ROSH HASHANAH

By Helen Levesley

This assembly is taken from More Secondary School Assemblies, edited by Ronni Lamont (SPCK, 2009).

Suitable for Whole School


Aim

To understand the purpose of the Jewish festival of Rosh Hashanah and to consider the same questions as Jewish people do at this time of year.

Preparation and materials

• Rosh Hashanah falls on 19/20 September 2009.
• You can use readers if you wish, or lead the assembly yourself.

Assembly

1. I am sure you all remember where you were for new year last year. For most people I expect it involved staying up late, either at a party or at home in order to see the new year in at midnight.
   
2. Can you remember what resolutions you made? How many of you have managed to keep them up until now? (Take a quick poll – probably very few.) Can you recall what you said you would try to do better? Chances are you can’t, and there is a strong probability that your resolutions only lasted a few weeks, days or possibly months.
   
3. Today I want to talk to you about the Jewish Festival of Rosh Hashanah, which literally means ‘Head of the Year’. It falls during the Jewish month of Tishri, which is around September/October in our calendar.
   
   It is a very important Jewish festival because, although it is a celebration, it is bound up with serious promises and considerations of the year just past and it provides a unique occasion for personal development and reflection. Some time to just stop and ‘be’. Something that today’s society gives us very little chance to do.
   
4. Jews all around the world will spend the time in and around new year in reflection. It is a time for people to shed light on what their priorities really are. It is a time to ask serious questions about your actions throughout the year.
   
5. As I read these questions out, I would like you to take some time to consider the questions on your own personal level. I will leave a short period of silence between each one.
   
   What is the most meaningful thing in my life?
   Who in my life means the most to me? How often do I let them know this?
   What are the most significant things I have achieved in the last year?
   What do I hope to achieve next year and in my life generally?
6. A great deal of time is spent in the synagogue during Rosh Hashanah. Services focus on God and his kingship, but also people spend time quietly thinking on their actions over the past year, and they will ask forgiveness for their sins.
   
   Is there anything you can think of in the past year that you need to ask forgiveness for? Maybe it is an action, a deed, or just an unkind word to someone. Can you still say sorry? Let’s take some time to do that now.
   
7. Although Rosh Hashanah is a time for reflection, it is not all about sadness. The new year is a time of hope, and after visiting the synagogue, families return home for a meal. They dip pieces of apple or bread into honey. This is a symbol of a sweet new year ahead and that there is hope within it.
   
   Think about the start of the school year – what hopes do you have for that? Within all the consideration is the hope that Jewish people will try to do better than in the year before. I think that this is something we can all strive for.

Time for reflection

Think back to those questions asked earlier.

Let me see what the most meaningful thing in my life is, and be grateful for it.

Let me tell the most important person in my life how much I love and appreciate them. Remind me to tell them as often as I can.

Help me to see my achievements as significant, and to be pleased in them, as they are my achievements.

Amen.

Song

‘Lord of all hopefulness’ (Hymns Old and New, 313)