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The Southern Israelite
ISetv Year Greetings
FIRST
NATIONAL BANK
VALDOSTA, GEORGIA
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\ III VI, WINN, Vlrr-l*r«-»ldrnl
J. II. COPLAND. Vlrr-I'roulrirnt
VIM. L. GOODI.OK, Ca-.hl.-r
CLARA III KliOW S, A»»l»tant Ca-hi.-r
J. II. SIMS, JIL, AvNlHtant Caaklrr
THOMAS V. ASIILEY, A»lMani Caohlrr
UNIT E I) S I A T E S I) E P O S I I A R Y
New Year Greetings
Heat
VALDOSTA
THEATRE
South Georgia s Theatre Beautiful
Valdosta, Georgia
j THE WHITE HOUSE CAFE j
Best Place To Eat
5 •
Valdosta Georgia
New Year Greetings
HOTEL DANIEL ASHLEY
VALDOSTA, GEORGIA
VALDOSTA PIGGLY WIGGLY
Trade at Piggly Wiggly and Save the Difference
4 Clean Stores for Your Convenience
W. M. OLIVER & COMPANY
VALDOSTA, GA.
‘‘Valdosta’s Shopping Center”
MEMORIES and HOPES
Rosh ha-Shanah Reflections
lly KARRI JOSEPH UTSCHEN, Athens, Georgia
If an entire stranger were to come
to the Synagogue on Rosh ha-Shanah,
and enter into the spirit of the service,
and watch it as it moves along step
by step, one thing would impress it
self upon him—he would see that we
were beginning something. Everyone
feels as if he, or she, were born again.
The very air is saturated with the
conviction that everything is start
ing a-fresh. A whole long year, with
its promises and uncertainties, is to
begin. On through the dretyT winter,
on through the joyful spring, on into
the glowing warmth of summer, until
another autumn closes the annua!
cycle. Is it any wonder that so much
significance has been attached to it?
Involuntarily as it were, do our hearts
open in prayer to God our Father at
the twilight hour of time. The twi
light hour of time—when the old year
passing away into eternity merges
with the now opening into infinity.
The two are just upon the point of
touching one another. Can you not
see in the horizon yonder the tw r o
coming together and being welded in
to one unbroken chain? Let us pause
for a brief moment in the midst of the
eternal ebb and flow of time and let
us try to catch a fleeting glimpse of
eternity.
Many and various are the thoughts
that come surging through our minds
at the beginning of the New Year.
The old and the new are crowding
in upon us: memories of the old
year and thoughts about the new one
vie with each other for recognition.
Memories of the old! Rightly is the
New Year day called Yarn ha-Zikoron
the day of memories. Our minds un
lock the door of the room of memory
and rummage about therein. We
summon the events of the year just
past and bid them pass before us in
review.
Behold memories of devotion, of
sacrifice, of unselfish service. Be
hold memories of courage and bene
ficence. Behold memories of friend
ships and loves that purified our
hearts and enriched our lives. Be
hold memories of dreams we once had,
of hopes and aspirations. All these
hover about us. Let us linger with
them for a moment and try to re-live
them if but for a second.
And, ah, my friends, and memories,
too, come back to us: memories of
suffering and trials; memories of
dreams shattered and hopes frustrat
ed ; memories of those near and dear
to us whom we left behind in the
march of time. And these, too, are
dear and sacred to us. Let us con
secrate a moment’s thought to them.
Still other memories appear before
our mind’s eye: memories of which
we are ashamed and bow our heads
in repentance. We recall our unfair
dealings with our fellow men; our
unjustified pride and haughtiness;
our lack of sympathy with those less
fortunate. For who is there amongst
us who has not offended his fellow
man or spoken ill against his neigh
bor, or taken advantage of the igno
rant? Shall we not resolve to forget
and forgive? It has been, my friends,
an old standing custom among our
people to make the period ushered
in by New Year’s Day one of mutual
forgiveness, and those who had d-f
ferences with each other during the
year wettled them at this time a
beautiful custom indeed! Else wh ?
right have we to ask forgiveness of
God?
And so, as we roll back the page*
of memory, let us generously forj^ive
RABBI JOSEPH UTSCHEN
those who have wronged us or spoken
ill of us. Then, surely, we, too, will
be forgiven.
But let us close the door of the
room of memory and turn our face*
to the future. For after all the day
is primarily Rosh ha-Shanah, the
Head of the Year, signifying a period
of new beginnings. New beginnings!
What a world of meaning in the word
“beginning!” What new hopes and as
pirations spring into view as we utter
the words “a new beginning!" All
is to begin over again. “Come thou.
O Man, forget the disappointments
of the past, leave behind the failures
of the days gone by, forget the sor
rows of the old year. The dawn of
a New Year is breaking. A world
of hope is unfolding itself. Gird thy
loins new worlds to conquer." New
beginnings! what an enheartening
message, what a hidden source of
happiness!
It has been because the Jew thus
approached the New Year that he
never lost faith. It was his power
to vision new beginnings at every
turn of history that made the Jew
the greatest optimist the world ha-
ever known. The exhilaration and ex
citement of beginning, always filk
his life with hope and promise. * 0
only New Year’s Day but every day
was a day of beginnings. The wor .
believes the Jew, is recreated e\er>
day. God is m’hadesh b'chol V om
tomid ma’ase vreshis. He renew,
daily the work of creation. And as
the Jew arises in the morning an
holds nature reborn, robed in sp en
dor, and beauty, he takes on new
strength and new courage to f
the hostile world round about 1 •
Let us, then, face the New Year
terms of beginnings. And w i e
is true that life is one great
tinuousness, one unbroken thai.
(Continued on Page 49)