On the afternoon of Rosh Hashana it is customary to do the Tashlich ceremony.
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In the biblical book of Micah (7:18-19) it says:
"Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? . . . You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea."
So tashlich means "You will cast off."
Having no sea or river or lake, I am fortunate to live near a spring-fed fish pond..
I read the liturgy and then took the symbolic bread crumbs from my pocket. I named a personal sin and threw a crumb in the water, named a national sin and threw another, a private sin of omission and tossed more bread. On and on.
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The fish gobbled them up.
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Part of the symbolism is this: A fish has no eyelids and cannot close its eyes. So, too, may God always keep his eyes open watching over us.
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16 comments:
Great white koi (or carp?)!
Thank you so much for the Dune House link! It's fantastic and I had never heard of it...
Very nice passage from the Bible.
Yes, may God always keep his eyes open watching over us: we are so weak, we do need His help.
Thank you, Dina for the link to the liturgy. I read it just after I had been meditating on some things in my personal relationship with God. It was an encouragement to read those words and realize that I have a personal New Year. I can't explain it any better, but I am grateful.
Pretty Koi in the pond, thanks for sharing and have a great week.
Beautiful taslich posting! And lucky you with a nice fish pond near you:-)
Nicely done. Again, I learn something new.
What a beautiful custom. I had not heard of it before now. I especially like where you cast a national sin "into to the depths of the sea". Thanks for an inspiring post.
I referred to you today in my post!
We should all throw our sins in the water in the form of breadcrumbs for the fish to eat! They become FAT fish in no time! Another great posting! BTW, Aref is safe!!
Wonderful koi carp!
And the fish grow fat on sins...
I like that. A simple yet very symbolically meaningful ceremony.
I'm sure the fish like it too. :)
What a great and holy tradition, Dina! Thank you for this post!
I like the symbolism behind this tradition. However it seems that it's man who should keep his eyes open at all times and accept to see his sins.
Best wishes for the new year!
I'm sorry I can't visit as often as I'd like to but I really enjoyed browsing through your latest posts - I'd missed the fire around the monastery for example, and that was very sad.
I like the symbolic meanings of the rituals, Dina.
May we learn from our past sins, and try not to repeat them.
Shalom
I like the symbolism in all this. Great post, Dina.
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