Jews to Toss Bread as They Cast Off Sins

c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Jews around the country will visit rivers, beaches and streams on the second full day of Rosh Hashana (Sept. 24), the Jewish New Year. Many of them will have bread in their pockets. Police will stop traffic at several intersections to allow members of Temple Israel of Greater Miami […]

c. 2006 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) Jews around the country will visit rivers, beaches and streams on the second full day of Rosh Hashana (Sept. 24), the Jewish New Year. Many of them will have bread in their pockets.

Police will stop traffic at several intersections to allow members of Temple Israel of Greater Miami to walk to Biscayne Bay. On the Upper West Side of Manhattan, hundreds of Jews will converge near the Hudson River. More than 300 people are expected to play drums at Venice Beach in California before walking to the ocean.


In a tradition known as tashlich, they will throw bread in the water to symbolically cast off their sins.

“Rosh Hashana is the beginning of the period of judgment and repentance,” said David Kraemer, a professor of Talmud and Rabbinics at Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. “You want to get rid of your sins, both symbolically and otherwise, because it will increase the likelihood that you’ll be forgiven.”

The 10-day period of reflection and repentance culminates in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement (begins Oct. 1). Rosh Hashana is celebrated with special synagogue services where the shofar, or ram’s horn, is sounded. Tashlich is usually done on the first day of Rosh Hashana, but this year that falls on a Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, so many people will opt for Sunday. Others will do it on any day before Yom Kippur.

“There’s no doubt it’s become more popular,” Kraemer said. “It’s one of those customs that has caught on. I think it has a return-to-the-earth feel, a hands-on, kind of primitive feel.”

While anyone from the Orthodox to the unaffiliated may choose to participate in this custom, which dates back to the 15th century, the nature of the ceremony and its interpretations vary. Tashlich, which means “you will cast away,” is inspired by verses in the book of Micah.

“The tradition is that we go the closest body of water and say a prayer,” said Moshe Elefant, executive rabbinic coordinator and chief operating officer of the Orthodox Union. “In the Orthodox tradition, men and women don’t sit together when they pray, but when they say tashlich, a family will go together.”

At Temple Israel of Greater Miami, a Reform congregation in the city center, about 40 people will walk through traffic and past expensive condominiums under construction to Biscayne Bay.


“Temple Israel sits equidistant between almost abject poverty and incredible luxury,” said Rabbi Mitchell Chefitz. “We bring an awareness with us. It’s a recognition that there’s more we can do to have justice flow more equitably. On Rosh Hashana morning especially, there’s the tendency of this congregation to raise social consciousness.”

Bet Shira, a conservative congregation in Miami, has planned its first pre-tashlich family service with songs and a story for children. They’ll then join other members of the congregation at a nearby canal.

“You get a real sense of community, standing there on the grass with all your friends, and everyone’s children,” said Ronald Rosengarten, president of the congregation. “You have ducks and children running around. It’s a Jewish experience of nature.”

Traditionally, the bread is thrown into what Rabbi Micah Caplan of Bet Shira called a “natural body of water,” like a stream or a river, rather than a pool or fountain.

“It’s the idea that God’s creation is that which absolves and forgives, along with God personally, the actions and mistakes we’ve made over the past year,” Caplan said.

Members of Nashuva, an unaffiliated congregation in Los Angeles, celebrate tashlich at Venice Beach in a nontraditional service.


“Usually, the shofar is blown in the temple during Rosh Hashana, but we took the shofar blowing to the beach,” said Rabbi Naomi Levy. “We started a drumming circle at the beach. At Nashuva, the whole theme of what we work on at the high holidays is about restoration and renewal, so tashlich becomes this metaphor of letting go and embracing the new year with wholeness and a sense of rebirth.”

Helene Rosenzweig of Santa Monica, who was raised as a Conservative Jew in New York, has attended the Nashuva service in recent years.

“My evolution of tashlich is from this little kid, where we took baggies of Wonder Bread and sins like, `I told a lie,’ to thinking about things that weigh you down, that don’t allow you to move forward emotionally or psychologically,” she said. “The drums parallel the cathartic nature of the event.”

As powerful as the ceremony feels, it’s not a magical absolution, Levy said.

“Judaism very much stresses the work we have to do,” she said. “If you’ve hurt someone, it’s your job to make it right with that person. The ceremony is ultimately liberating only if we’ve done the legwork to get to the place of true renewal.”

KRE/CM END ROAN

Editors: To obtain stunning photos of a Tashlich ceremony in Venice Beach, Calif., go to the RNS Web site at https://religionnews.com. On the lower right, click on “photos,” then search by subject or slug.

Note time elements: Rosh Hashana starts at sundown on Sept. 22 and lasts until sundown on Sept. 24. Yom Kippur starts at sundown on Oct. 1 and lasts until sundown on Oct. 2.


Donate to Support Independent Journalism!

Donate Now!