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STAMFORD, Conn. — Members of Stamford’s Temple Sinai let their sins from the previous year wash away in Long Island Sound as they participated in the annual ritual of Tashlich on the first day of Rosh Hashanah.
During the ritual people throw pieces of bread into the water to symbolize the casting away of sins and leaving past shortcomings behind. The ritual is celebrated after the afternoon prayer on the first day of Rosh Hashanah to start the new year off with a clean slate, according to the Chabad-Lubavitch Media Center.
The Tashlich is also beneficial to members of the Jewish faith because it is a physical act and helps make it real, not thinking and praying in a synagogue, said Rabbi Jay TelRav of Temple Sinai.
“We’re not just brains, are we? We’re bodies, too,” TelRav said during his first Tashlich service since coming to Temple Sinai earlier this year.
He encouraged the 50 or so people to take their time before throwing the pieces of bread into the Long Island Sound. TelRav wanted them to think about the sins they wanted to wash away and “to make it count,” because the bread is just the beginning, as they have to work not to commit those sins.
Rosh Hashanah is the celebration of the new year on the Jewish calendar and marks the creation of man, according to the Chabad-Lubavitch Media Center's website. The holiday emphasizes the relationship between man and God, specifically the dependence each has for the other, the website says.
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