One of the reasons everybody looks forward to the new year, aside from having an excuse to celebrate, is that — whether we are talking about the Hebrew calendar or the Gregorian calendar — the idea of a new year seems to hold out the promise of a new start. Even though we know the division to be an arbitrary one, when the calendar switches over from one year to the next it feels like something new has begun. We hope that this year will be better than the last one, that maybe we will somehow be better people than we were last year. We make plans and resolutions for the coming year, and seriously entertain the possibility that we may fulfill them. Jewish tradition certainly views the turning of the year in this way, which is part of the reason we begin the year with an array of traditions meant to address our mistakes and cleanse our spirits, to give us a fresh start. But the liturgy also encourages us not to stop there, but to look at each new day as an opportunity for renewal. As the first blessing before the Shema puts it, God “renews each day, constantly, the work of creation,” suggesting that, rather than being forever stuck in the past, we should greet each new day as a brand new creation, a new, fresh world presented to us every time we open our eyes. For a host of reasons, it isn’t necessarily easy to conduct ourselves with the flexibility and openness suggested by the idea of a world in a constant state of renewal. And so we rely on rituals such as morning prayers and celebrations of the new moon and the new year in order to keep the hope of renewal alive in our hearts and remind us not to give up on the possibility of change. Whatever the new day, or the new year, may have in store for us, we hope to bring the best of ourselves forward to face it. Every day, Creation is renewed. Wake up and see unfolding In the spreading light of dawn, The world and all it contains Coming into being, new, fresh, Filled with divine goodness And love. Every day, Creation is renewed. Reflected in the great lights We see a new day, One precious day, Eternity. — Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg L'shalom,