Fresh Start

Quotes:

"The power of one man or one woman doing the right thing for the right reason, and at the right time, is the greatest influence in our society." ---Jack Kemp

"Build upon strengths, and weaknesses will gradually take care of themselves." ---Joyce C. Lock

"When faced with a challenge, look for a way, not a way out." ---David Weatherford

"Always concentrate on how far you have come, rather than how far you have left to go." ---Heidi Johnson

"Aim not for what you are, but for what you could be." ---Lucas Hellmer

"Be yourself. An original is always worth more than a copy." ---Unknown

"The difference between holding on to a hurt or releasing it with forgiveness is like the difference between laying your head down at night on a pillow filled with thorns or a pillow filled with rose petals." ---Loren Fischer

"Don't look down on anyone unless you are helping them up." ---Jesse Jackson

"If you can't laugh, the days are just too long." ---Lauren Anderson

"Courage is about doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared."

---Eddie Rickenbacker

"It's not where you're from; it's where you're going. It's not what you drive; it's what drives you. It's not what's on you; it's what's in you. It's not what you think; it's what you know." ---Gatorade commercial

"It matters not the number of years in your life. It is the life in your years." ---Abraham Lincoln

I Corinthians 6:8-11 “such were”

Today at sunset (09/16/2012) starts Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year).

Rosh Hashanah means, literally, "head of the year"

The first day of Tishri.

Leviticus 16:24 “...In the seventh month, on the first of the month, there shall be a sabbath for you, a remembrance with shofar blasts, a holy convocation.”

Judaism has several different "new years";

Consider: here in the U.S we have the New Year in January; The "school year" starts in August; And businesses have "fiscal years" that start at various times of the year.

In Judaism, Nissan 1 is the new year for the purpose of counting the reign of kings and months on the calendar.

Elul 1 (in August) is the new year for the tithing of animals.

Shevat 15 (in February) is the new year for trees determining when first fruits can be eaten, etc.);

Tishri 1 (Rosh Hashanah) is the new year for years (when they increase the year number. Sabbatical and Jubilee years begin at this time).

The name "Rosh Hashanah" is not used in the Bible.

The Bible refers to this holy day as Yom Ha-Zikkaron (the day of remembrance).

Rosh Hashanah is 10 days before Yom Kippur (YOHM ki-PAWR) -

Literally the “Day of Atonement”.

Rosh Hashanah is instituted in Leviticus 23:24-25.

Greeting: L'shanah tovah! (For a good year!)

Observances: Sounding the shofar (ram's horn trumpet)

100 notes are sounded each day.

There are four different types of shofar notes:

A 3 second sustained note followed by a three 1-second notes rising in tone, then a series of short, staccato notes extending over a period of about 3 seconds; and a final blast which lasts at least 10 seconds as a minimum.

The shofar's sound is a call to repentance.

Customs: Dipping apples in honey; Casting off "sins" into a river

Apples/honey: Signifying the sweetness of a new start.

Tashlikh ("casting off"): Walk to flowing water and empty out pockets into the river, symbolically casting off our sins. (Small pieces of bread are commonly put in the pocket to be cast off.)

Rosh Hashanah is a time to begin introspection;

Looking back at the mistakes of the past year;

Looking forward planning changes for a new year.

Rosh Hashanah is a call to a Fresh Start.

It is a call to repentance.

Repentance is a willful choice to change.

A chance to do things different; to be different.

It’s a new start, a Fresh Start!

God by a mighty hand delivered the children of Israel from hard Egyptian bondage.

Some of them longed for “the melons of Egypt”; (The past).

God had given them a Fresh Start; One in which they could freely worship Him.

Make Today your God given Rosh Hashanah – A Fresh Start

Let God deliver you from hard bondage.

The hard bondage of…

Servitude to Sin;

The Entrapment of Failure;

The Smothering of Guilt;

The Pain of Disillusion;

The Drowning of Dreams;

The Destruction of Hope.

Then be like Paul: “Forgetting those things behind… press”.

Welcome to the First Day of the Rest of Your Life!

Your Fresh Start -- L'shanah tovah!

Additional Information:

Rosh Hashanah occurs on the following days of the calendar:

Jewish Year 5772: sunset September 28, 2011 - nightfall September 30, 2011

Jewish Year 5773: sunset September 16, 2012 - nightfall September 18, 2012