Our Senior Community Worker Sydney Switzer commented, “It was great to have such a variety of people and talent here. It’s important to find ways of celebrating the Jewish community and taking the focus away from all the negativity that’s out there just now."

Apples dipped in honey are eaten on Rosh HaShanah to symbolise our hopes for a sweet year, and Sydney also ran two apple orchard celebrations, one in Fife and the other in Glasgow. Participants not only gathered apples, and learned about their symbolism in Jewish tradition, but also enjoyed mulled apple cider with apple crumble cooked over an open fire.

The events provided a great opportunity for people, some of whom live quite a distance from other Jewish people, to meet and build connections. In particular, people were glad to be able to share their experiences, good and not so good, during what has, for many, been a difficult year, and their hopes for the year to come. To paraphrase a prayer with which many communities begin the first service of Rosh HaShanah, may all the challenges of the past year pass away with the old, and may the new year bring only positive opportunities for us all.

On the second night of Rosh HaShanah, we partnered with Giffnock Newton Mearns Synagogue to hold a Seder Simanim and festive supper. The traditional simanim or “symbols” that we eat at the festive meals illustrate our hopes for the coming year. As well as apple dipped in honey for a sweet year, these include pomegranates in the hope that our good deeds will be as numerous as its seeds, and carrots, because their name in Hebrew (gezer) sounds very similar to the word for “decree” or “judgement” (g’zar), and we hope that Gd, who judges us on Rosh HaShanah, will grant us a favourable judgement. There are many different traditions, and everyone shared their own insights, and how their own family celebrates Rosh HaShanah.

We also wanted to share our celebrations with the wider community, and ran open information sessions for both adults and children in several libraries around Edinburgh and Glasgow. These were attended by people from a wide range of backgrounds who learned not only about Rosh HaShanah, but also explored Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Simchat Torah, with hands-on activities, anything-goes question and answer sessions, and, of course, a selection of tasty snacks!

The Jewish Council of Scotland would like to thank Bemis for their support to run the library information sessions.