L'Shanah Tovah (For A Good Year)

Happy Belated Rosh HaShanah! I think this is one of my favorite of the Jewish holidays we celebrate. Fall is my favorite season and so it only feels right that the Jewish New Year kicks off the fall season. I love that it is about new beginnings, making amends, setting goals, and for us; coming together as a family. 


In our "inter-cultural" household it mostly comes down to me to celebrate holidays on either side of our upbringings. I'm fully aware that we don't follow what might be considered a more "traditional" Jewish home's rituals for this and other holidays, but as a result of our own family blending, we have begun to create our own unique versions for celebration. We eat sweet foods, I bake a traditional challah and we perform a version of Tashlich. Our Tashlich involves taking a nice family walk to a body of water (we are a little limited in Phoenix, so we walk to the canal), we toss breadcrumbs into the water (hopefully eaten by the fish) which is symbolic of letting go of the past years wrongs and then we make plans and goals for the year to come.


I think it is a lovely holiday and I feel fortunate to have married into a Jewish family, thus increasing my awareness of other cultures and traditions (in addition to giving me more reason for holiday celebrations!).


Apples dominate our Rosh HaShanah celebration in hopes of wishing all a "sweet" new year.

Beluga Tales

I love this beautiful challah cover my sweet husband got for me one year.  Pomegranates are also significant for this holiday season as the many seeds the fruit carries is symbolic of the many mitzvahs (good deeds) one aims to perform throughout the coming year.

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But with a challah as beautiful as this (if I do say so myself), why would anyone want to cover it up!?!

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Fall season would not be complete without a little father-son college football bonding time.  Q cheered on his daddy's Wildcats by taking a nap, but at least he was dressed the part.

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The most important part of any holiday (for me at least), is the celebration and appreciation of being together as a family.

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Some tasty sweets to round out our holiday meal.  On the right are these new strudel bites I made for the first time.  They turned out okay, but I think I need to play around with the recipe to improve on them.

From Beluga Tales

May you all have a safe, healthy and beautiful new year!