Saturday, September 19. Cool and clear morning, deer and mallows in the marsh. Not a lot of words this morning; we are all headed into the strangest Rosh Hashanah we’ve known, distant and without friends and relations, except on Zoom; and we lost a much-revered and beloved champion last night. We are aware of the presence of evil, learning how it works, what it sounds like, smells like. When it seems like everything is as bad as it can be, it gets worse. How can we go forward into this New Year with anything like the usual joy of holiday and tradition? The Fountainheads’ joyful celebration seems too much to bear.[1]
Our source Jill Hammer has a glimmer of hope for us, in her drash on the first day of the first month of the year, Tishrei:
In autumn, as leaves are withering, it is hard to believe life will ever grow again. Yet beneath the earth, the cycle of life is beginning. The wrinkled seed, buried after harvest, waits to sprout. On Rosh Hashanah we discover that we too can blossom even after we have withered.
A legend tells that on Rosh Hashanah the Divine made the barren matriarch Sarah fertile, and she conceived from her husband Abraham. We read the story of Isaac’s birth on the new year to celebrate this seeding of life. Sarah, 90 years old, is like the soil of autumn: outwardly dry and barren yet inwardly fecund.[2]
We talked later of the battle between good and evil, the seeds of the New Year, the ever-going resilience of nature, and our hope for the changes to come. May we all find hope in the seeds we are planting, lying dormant while we work to prepare the soil for the year to come. —Kirby
We will honor the Full Moon of Tishrei on Friday, October 2, 2020, Erev Sukkot. The next Rosh Chodesh walking meditation will be Monday, October 19, for Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan. Both meetups will be at 7:30 am; contact us for location. Social distancing will be observed. Please wear a mask.
[1] See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlcxEDy-lr0&list=RD_OULnzcWaJQ&index=20
[2] Rabbi Jill Hammer, The Jewish Book of Days, p.29. See “Sources” tab for full citation.
Rosh Chodesh Cleveland 
Lovely pictures and quietly thought-provoking thoughts……….. Thank you
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