Arye Ben Gurion
Remembrance and the Holidays of the Future
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur:
The Jewish holidays are mostly remembrance holidays, the individual, family and community are asked to remind and recreate in a ceremonial fashion, a significant historical event that occurred in our past.
The Jewish individual is called upon to ask himself and educate his son to ask: where did I come from, what does my biography contain?
On Passover, Sukkot and Shavuot we ask: when and where was I born: In Egypt as a slave and I came out liberated. I was present in Mount Sini, I have wandered the desert to the promised land, I settled down and worked its land.
But Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur do not have a history, they have no memory, no past, no narrative, no drama. Therefore, it is not the time, the birth nor the identity that determine their content. Not what happened in the past, but rather what is possible in the future. The face and the heart are aimed to the time dimension – the future. These two holidays ask: What is the direction your life is taking? How did you choose to live it? Do you have a dream, an aspiration you wish to fulfill? Do you have a human and social point of view? What is the image of the Israeli society in your view? How does your kibbutz look like? What does your family look like? If you wish to create a new, better, more just reality, it is up to you alone. Up to your desire for change, your ambition to redeem yourself and your society. It depends on your vow now, in the present, but your face is to the future.
According to this, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are human and optimistic holidays and they address the individual and his / her future.