FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM SEPTEMBER 16, 2021 • BUZZ • THE QUEENS COURIER 53
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Celebrating the High Holy Days
I stood near the ocean with a
small group of former neighbors
from the Westhampton
House on Dune Road, with
the sun shining brightly on the
silky sand, and symbolically said
prayers asking for forgiveness
while throwing pieces of bread
(my sins) into the sea.
It is the tradition in the Jewish
faith during the new year High
Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah
and Yom Kippur to cast off
my sins in a ceremony called
Tashlikh.
I had always been jealous that
my Catholic friends could go to
confession at any time to ask for
forgiveness and then carry on
with their lives.
I’ve always been a “goody twoshoes”
kind of person, but who
hasn’t said or done something
that hurt someone? So I get
special joy having this opportunity
to rid myself of my sins.
Art Dresner, a longtime resident
of the oceanside, beautifully
landscaped co-op, the
Westhampton House, takes time
to help his neighbors celebrate
the holidays by preparing the
appropriate prayers. I was happy
to join them.
Earlier in the week at Sabbath
services on Sept. 11, Rabbi
Schneier, the powerful and charismatic
leader of the Hampton
Synagogue, had invited celebrated
actress Tovah Feldshuh
to speak. She inspired me with
her words on that sacred day of
remembrance.
She asked all of us to shut
our eyes and see where we were
20 years ago during the 9/11
attacks. I remember it like it was
yesterday.
I was transfi xed in front of
Tovah Feldshuh will be
bringing her one-woman
show, “Becoming Dr. Ruth,”
to Manhattan following rave
reviews of her performance
at the Bay Street Theater in
Sag Harbor.
my TV disbelieving what my
eyes were seeing: a plane crashing
into the Twin Towers. “Oh
my, it must have been a pilot
error,” I thought. But within
minutes, it was to be an event
in my lifetime that would be
equal to my parents’ day of
infamy that marked America
entering World War II. A
terrifying feeling!
Tovah, in her powerful voice,
demanded that the congregants
“enter that moment. Be
there. Breathe in, breathe out. Be
there and remember — we are
commanded to remember!”
I loved how she shared a
moment in her childhood when
she was riding with her father
and the horse bucked and threw
her into a pile of manure. Her
father yelled to her, asking if
she was OK, and she said, “Yes,
but I’m covered in horseshit!”
He yelled back, “Everybody is.
Get back on your horse!” And
she did!
Th ose words took me back to
when I found my fi ancé dead
on the fl oor from a fatal heart
attack, a week before my wedding.
My son, trying to console
me, said, “Mom, shit happens!” I
had never heard that expression
before and I knew I must carry
on, as we must carry on today
with the events of our lives.
Tovah in her talk reminded us
all that the tragic events of 9/11
“cast a dark shadow on these
Days of Awe, our holy days. But
we are not defi ned by 9/11. It
gave birth to a sea of patriotism
and an outpouring of volunteerism
that shows the best of what
we are as Americans and can be
as a national family.”
I loved Tovah’s words — they
are so true! Now, we must fi gure
out how we can use those feelings
of togetherness and tenderness
toward each other to soft en
the schisms between us.
She concluded her remarks
with a beautiful call to action.
“To tear down the fences, the
barriers between us and to share
whatever humanity we’ve got.
Bring our pain, our brokenness,
our yearning, our love and our
audacity … If we feel dim, bring
on the light. If we feel hatred,
bring on love. If we feel despair,
let us bring on hope. So sing
out and live while living! Have
courage, take chances and do
good as we remember.”
Let the new year and its
blessings begin! Amen!
To all my readers, may the
beauty of life carry us through
the darkness of some of our days
and may love be in our lives as
we celebrate the new year.
I prayed for forgiveness of my sins as I symbolically
threw bread crumbs in the ocean in front of the
Westhampton House.
The shofar is a beautiful ram’s horn that is blown
every year during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The
call of the shofar is a symbolic battle cry of the Jewish
people and represents a reminder of Tzedakah (giving
help to those in need) and the covenant between us
and God. When we blow the shofar, we trust in God’s
plan for us and know that his instructions are our path
to a fulfifi lling and meaningful life in the new year. It
is sounded 100 times during the High Holy Days. And
a long and loud shofar blast marks the end of the fast
day of Yom Kippur.