I once dreamt I was pregnant. My belly was growing and my lower back ached. When I awoke there was a definite feeling of relief as there was absolutely no way I was looking forward to delivering baby.
On Rosh Hashannah we remember motherhood. The Torah readings speak of Sarah who gives birth to Isaac in her old age, and the handmaid Hagar who is exiled along with her son Ishmael. We hear of Hagar crying out to God as she prays for help, and we are denied the sound of Sarah’s voice as her only son is taken off to the mountain for a presumed sacrifice. Even the Haftarah readings speak of Hannah who laments her childless state and prays for a son – who becomes the priest Samuel – and how ‘pregnant and birthing’ mothers will return to the land of Israel (Jeremiah 31:21).
Our tradition presents incredible choice. We can listen to the Biblical words as nice stories that bring some gentle insights, or we can engage with each letter as a messenger of powerful breakthrough. On a deeper level, we are all Sarah, Rachel, Hagar and Hannah. We travel through their stories with them. How are you like Hagar, feeling exiled from a part of your life? How are you like Hannah, desperately praying for something or someone who will make your life complete? How are you like Sarah, feeling those deep waves of jealousy?
Rosh Hashannah reminds us of the birthing of the world and the celebrates the birthday of mankind. During these days we read a psalm which states “my father and mother have forsaken me” (Tehillim: 27:10) and we are given an immediate choice; we can use these days to take responsibility, collaborate with the Almighty to become our own ‘parent’, and create an incredible future for the coming year.
Written in response to Liz Creditor’s Jewel “Welcoming the Ultimate Gift.” Read it here.
