46 THE QUEENS COURIER • BUZZ • SEPTEMBER 28, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
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New year’s blessings
From my family to yours, Happy New Year!
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VICTORIA’S
SECRETS
Victoria
SCHNEPS-
YUNIS
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There were hurricanes and
earthquakes and rainstorms
but somehow, for
the celebration of Rosh Hashanah
last week, the sun shone brilliantly
as I made my way to the synagogue.
The holiday is the beginning
of the Jewish New Year, with
worshippers asking for forgiveness
for their sins and to be written
in the Book of Life .
When I was a little girl, I went
to my shul with my mom and
dad for the New Year’s services.
My father wore a tallis, which
is a prayer shawl, and I remember
how I would sit for hours,
and he kindly let me braid its
silky strings as I listened to the
prayers and awe-inspiring music.
To this day, I feel the power
of the prayers and the fervent
praying and familiar embracing
music. It's a time for family,
and this year I got to sit with my
daughter Samantha, who knows
I like to sit up close because then
I don't feel the immensity of the
4,000 people who are also praying
with me.
Temple Sinai is the largest
reform congregation on Long
Island and when I'm sitting in
the front, I cherish the intimacy
with the rabbi and the cantor
and the choir. I feel more connected
to them sitting up front
and hearing their words, prayers
and songs.
Since my grandchildren pop
in and out of the service, they sit
in the back so they can anonymously
disappear and reappear.
I hope they heard the blast of
the shofar (a ram’s horn), my
favorite part of the service.
For me, it's reflective time, an
opportunity for staying in the
moment to think about my life,
both the good moments and the
challenging ones, and to think
of my path.
Here's one of my favorite
prayers, taking me into Yom
Kippur where I repeatedly ask for
forgiveness. My rabbi makes me
feel like I can see the book slowly
closing and my fervent prayers
asking to be written in the book
of life, repeating my plea over and
over again throughout the day.
The prayer is actually the poem
“Unetaneh Tokef,” a “wake-up
call” of sorts. It states:
On Rosh HaShanah this
is written; on Yom Kippur
this is sealed:
How many will pass away
from this world, how many
will be born into it;
who will live and who will
die;
who will reach the ripeness
of age,
who will be taken before
their time;
who by fire and who by
water;
who by war and who by
beast;
who by famine and who by
drought;
who by earthquake and
who by plague;
who by strangling and who
by stoning;
who will rest and who will
wander;
who will be tranquil and
who will be troubled;
who will be calm and who
tormented;
who will live in poverty and
who in wealth;
who will be humbled and
who exalted….
I like what one commentator
wrote about Rosh Hashanah
and Yom Kippur, that they "take
care of the small, almost invisible
choices of our lives. Rosh
Hashanah reflects on our mission
in life and Yom Kippur is
about the details that will get us
where we want to go and inspire
our success.”
The other wonder of the holiday
is being together with
all my children and grandchildren.
On Saturday of Yom
Kippur, there is fasting from
Friday night to sundown on
Saturday. That is the day of
my most heartfelt prayers to
be asking to be written in the
Book of Life. The culmination
of Yom Kippur, is when
the family gathers for a “break
the fast” celebration, a wonderful
time to cherish with
loved ones.
May all of you reading this
pray for yourselves, your families
and those families who lost
so much in the horrible hurricanes
and the Mexico earthquake.
May the new year be a
better one for all.
One great debut
Madison Frankel of Little Neck and Roslyn was awarded
high point rider for the day she made her Interscholastic
Equestrian Association (IEA) debut at Sagamore Hill Stables in
Huntington, winning both Future Novice over fence class and
flat. Sagamore Hill Stables and Coaches Lisa Kaplan, Omri Adut
and Jen helped her succeed.
