Our 2015 Thanks Jar was a success! We had 75 thankful thoughts in the jar at the end of December 15th, so our charities will be getting $25 each. And here’s what we’re thankful for:
Holiday Season Begins
I got a Rosh Hashanah greeting from a vendor and thought ‘Ah hah I should write my Happy Rosh Hashanah post. Then I was reminded that the Hajj and Eid al-Adha is coming up (through the sad news that a crane had collapsed and killed 107 people) and of course Yom Kippur follows on the heels of Rosh Hashanah. But my Wiccan patients would be put out if I forgot Mabon or Autumn Equinox so here’s the holiday list for the rest of 2015:
SEPTEMBER 2015
- 14-15
- Rosh Hashanah * – Jewish (begins sundown on 13)
- 17
- Ganesh Chaturthi ** – Hindu
- 18
- Paryushana Parva ** – Jain
- 22
- Waqf al Arafa – Hajj * – Islam (begins sundown on 21)
- 23 Equinox
- Yom Kippur * – Jewish (begins sundown on 22)
- Mabon * – Wicca/Pagan northern hemisphere (begins sundown on 22)
- Ostara * – Wicca/Pagan southern hemisphere ( begins sundown on 22)
- Shen of Winds, West and Autumn – Taoist
- Shuki-Korei-Sai – Shinto
- 23-26
- Eid al Adha – Sacrifice Day * – Islam (begins sundown on 22)
- 27
- Meskel – Ethiopian Orthodox Christian
- 28
- Sukkot * – Jewish (begins sundown on 27 extends through Oct 4)
- Birthday of Confucius – Asian
- 29
- Michael and All Angels – Christian
OCTOBER 2015
- 4
- Saint Francis Day – Christian
- 5
- Shemini Atzeret * – Jewish (begins sundown on 4th)
- 6
- Simchat Torah * – Jewish (begins sundown on 5th)
- 12
- Thanksgiving – Canada – Interfaith
- 13-21
- Navaratri ** – Hindu
- 14
- Hijra – New Year * – Islam (begins sundownon 13)
- 17
- Shukaku Matsuri – Shinto
- 20
- Birth of the Báb – Baha’i (begins sundown on 19)
- Installation of Scriptures as Guru Granth – Sikh
- 22
- Dasara ** – Hindu
- 23
- Saint George’s Day – Christian
- Ashura * – Islam (begins sundown on 22)
- 25
- Reformation Day ** – Protestant Christian
- 28
- Milvian Bridge Day – Christian
- 31
- All Hallows Eve – Christian
- Samhain (Northern hemisphere) Wicca/Pagan begins Sundown Oct 30
- Beltane (Southern hemisphere) Wicca/Pagan begins Sundown Oct 30
NOVEMBER 2015
- 1
- All Saints Day – Christian
- 2
- All Souls Day – Catholic Christian
- 9-13
- Deepavali ** – Hindu
- 11
- Diwali (Deepavali) ** – Hindu – Jain – Sikh
- 12
- Birth of Baha’u’llah – Baha’i (begins sundown on 11)
- New Year ** Jain
- 15
- Nativity Fast begins through 12/24 – Orthodox Christian
- 22
- Christ the King – Christian
- 24
- Guru Tegh Bahadur Martyrdom – Sikh
- 25
- Guru Nanak Dev Sahib birthday – Sikh
- 26
- Thanksgiving- Interfaith USA
- Day of the Covenant – Baha’i
- 28
- Ascension of Abdu’l-Baha – Baha’i (begins sundown on 26)
- 29
- Advent begins – Christian
- 30
- Saint Andrew’s Day – Christian
DECEMBER 2015
- 1
- Suijin-Matsuri – Shinto
- 6
- Saint Nicholas Day – Christian
- 7-14
- Hanukkah * – Judaism (begins sundown on 6)
- 8
- Immaculate Conception – Catholic Christian
- 12
- Advent Fast begins- Orthodox Christian
- Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe – Catholic Christian
- 8
- Rohatsu (Bodhi Day) ** – Buddhist
- 16
- Posadas Navidenas through 12/25 – Christian
- 21 Solstice
- Yule – Christian
- Yule * – Wicca/Pagan northern hemisphere ( begins sundown on 20)
- Litha * – Wicca/Pagan southern hemisphere
- 22
- Taoist festival honoring Wang-Mu/Empress Mother
- Tohji-Taisai – Shinto
- 23
- Mawlid an Nabi * – Islam ( begins sundown on 22)
- 25
- Christmas * – Christian
- 26
- Boxing Day
- Zarathosht Diso (Death of Prophet Zarathushtra ** – Zoroastrian
- 27
- Feast of the Holy Family – Catholic Christian
- 28
- Holy Innocents – Christian
- 31
- Watch Night – Christian
- Oharai/Grand Purification Festival – Shinto
Let us all join together in the prayer that this new year will be a good and sweet one.
Happy Rosh Hashanah!
Happy Rosh Hashanah!
For those of us who only know Rosh Hashanah as a holiday in our Outlook calendars, here’s a brief intro:
Rosh Hashanah, literally “Head of the year,” is a Jewish holiday and the first of the High Holidays which are days specifically set aside to focus on repentance that conclude with the holiday of Yom Kippur. It is observed as a day of rest. During the afternoon of the first day of Rosh Hashanah, or the second if the first falls on Shabbat, it is customary to observe the practice of tashlikh in which prayers are recited near natural flowing water, and one’s sins are symbolically cast into the water. Many also have the custom to throw bread or pebbles into the water, to symbolize the “casting off” of sins.
The traditional Hebrew greeting on Rosh Hashanah is shana tova for “[a] good year”, or shana tova umetukah for “[a] good and sweet year.” Because Jews and the world are being judged by God for the coming year, a longer greeting translates as “may you be written and sealed for a good year” (ketiva ve-chatima tovah).
Shana Tova to all my Jewish patients and their families, friends and wider communities. Let us all join together in the prayer that this new year will be a good and sweet one.