Note To Jewish Grievers: Apples and Honey for A Sweet New Year (Anyway)
2 Minute Read
It’s Time For Celebration
All over the world, Jewish people will soon be celebrating Rosh Hashanah, the start of a new year on the Jewish Calendar, with wishes all around for a “happy and sweet new year” -- signified by dipping apples into honey, and greeting one another with “Shana Tova”, the Hebrew words for the greeting “A good year.”
For those in mourning or grief-stricken from the recent death of a loved one, it’s hard to imagine a “good year” coming up.
I often ask the clients in my grief counseling practice to take a moment to reflect on what a “good year” what might look like, especially in the context of having experienced the death of a loved one.
It Doesn’t Mean Grief Ends.
For sure, it doesn’t mean that “grief ends.” But, it might mean that you …
Adjust to your new normal a little bit more each day
Reframe your sadness by acknowledging beautiful memories
Continue your bonds with your loved ones through thoughts and actions
Focus better at school, work, parenting, and other daily activities
Accept support from your friends, relatives and neighbors when they offer
Take a vacation for a change of scenery, to renew and reinvigorate yourself
Sleep better at night, with fewer nightmares and anxiety
Return to exercise to lift your spirits and release tension
Name any other things that might mean a “good year” for you
If you take a few moments this holiday season to reflect on this, you may be able to see the possibility of “a good year” can lie ahead.
The Bay Area Jewish Healing Center offers some thoughts about grieving during Rosh Hashana in this link below.
Remember, we don’t stop grieving and bury it forever, but we find a new way to incorporate our loved one into our life.
We don’t “move on,” but we “move forward”.
We don’t “move on,” but we “move forward.’ And the High Holy Days are a perfect time to start.
To my readers, I wish you a “Shana Tova” … a “good year” ahead.
