The Tribune

ROSH Hashanah, a major date in the Jewish calendar, was marked in Nassau on Wednesday evening when Rabbi Sholom Bluming, the Bahamas’ first full time Rabbi, led a celebration at the Sandals Resort at Cable Beach. Over 75 people from the Jewish community gathered to welcome in the Jewish New Year.

Rabbi Bluming of Chabad of the Bahamas, who migrated from New York in 2010, and those assembled, celebrated with a ceremony and a dinner.

The Jewish New Year is a time of reflection and prayer.

“The holiday is highlighted by the blowing of a rams horn the Shofar, which represents the coronation of God as our king for the upcoming year,” Rabbi Bluming said. “Each year we come back together and affirm our allegiance and acceptance to serve him throughout the year.

“We utilize this very special time to make good resolutions and to think about the past, the future and ways to better ourselves in our service to God and in our service to our fellow man.”

Rabbi Bluming said the holiday is also very joyous: “It’s a time for family, a time for friends and a time for celebration.”

He added: “The Jewish New Year celebrates the birth of the world and of mankind.

“Today, more than ever, people are looking for a deeper purpose and mission in life. Rosh Hashanah is an opportune time for all people to reconnect to their spirituality.

“Each one of us are entrusted in becoming God's partners in creation and making the world a better kinder place. When ordinary people do extraordinary things they complete the plan of a better world".

 Another popular Rosh Hashanah tradition is to eat sweet foods, particularly apples dipped in honey.

“This represents our wishes for a sweet new year, filled with blessings and an abundance of good,” Rabbi Bluming explained. Round Challah bread is served, to symbolise the circle of life, and the cycle of a new year.

He added: "People are excited for the chance to start anew and welcome a new year of blessings and opportunities

 “We began the Holiday with the woman lighting candles. With the candles, they bring peace, tranquility and light into the world. The candles also serve to remind us of the spiritual dimensions of life: just as a physical candle reveals the otherwise unseen contents of a room, so, too, in a spiritual sense, the Holiday candles reveal the unseen and intangible G-dly energy which permeates our existence.”

Rabbi Bluming, concluded his remarks at the event by saying: “As we usher in a New Year, Let us reflect on our relationships with those around us; our relationships with our families, our friends and our communities. Let us resolve to love more and to care more, to give more and to cherish more. Let us seek out the virtues and the good in others. As we come closer to the other, so we come closer to God. Befriend another and you have a friend in God.”

The Jewish community will gather this Friday evening October 3rd and Saturday the 4th to celebrate Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. For more information or to RSVP email RabbiBluming@yahoo.com