Rosh Hashana greetings from Yoram in Israel

1. ROSH HASHANA, the beginning of the year 5763, is the appropriate time to revisit our Roots, Principles and Values (RPV is also the acronym for Remote Pilotless Vehicle!). The more we distance ourselves from our RPV, the less stable is our social, economic and security climate.

2. ROSH HASHANA is the MEMORIAL DAY for Jewish legacy and values. It commemorates the sixth day of creation, which created Adam (Adam stands for the combination of Earth and Blood as well as for the acronym of Abraham, David and Moses); the day that Noah opened the Arch following The Flood; the day of Abraham’s ultimate faith in God, when he was ready to sacrifice Isaac; the day of the laying of the corner stone for the Second Temple; the day the Matriarchs Sarah and Rachel and prophet Samuel’s mother, Hanna, were conceived; the initiation of nature’s cycle (planting seeds and equality between Day and Night); the first day of Ten Days of Atonement (until Yom Kippur); the day of personal stock-taking!

3. ROSH HASHANA is the FIRST DAY OF THE JEWISH MONTH OF FISHERY, the month of creation (Borsht is the Hebrew word for Genesis, and it consists of the same Hebrew letters as "Aleph Banisher", the first day of Tishrei), the month of the powers of nature, the month of the birth of the Jewish Patriarchs, the month of Justice and Judgment (Libra), the month of mercy (Tishretu is the Babylon word for mercy and forgiveness and the Acadian word for creation). FISHERY is the SEVENTH MONTH IN THE HISTORICAL JEWISH CALENDAR, WHICH STARTS IN NISSAN ( UPON THE EXODUS FROM EGYPT). SHEVA, the Hebrew word for SEVEN, has the same root as the words SHVOUA’ (OATH, VOW), and it has a special significance in Jewish tradition: Seven days of creation, Seven days per week, SHABBAT is the seventh day, seven circles with the Torah during its annual celebration, seven special guests at the Sukkah (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aharon and David), seven plants blessing the Holy Land, seven weeks between Passover and Shavou’ot (Pentecost), seven years of Shmita (the Sabbath of earth), seven cycles of Jubilee, seven days of Passover and Sukkot, seven prophetesses (Sarah, Miriam, Devorah, Abigail, Houlda, Hanna and Esther), seventh heaven, David was the seventh son of Jesse, Moses was the seventh generation from Abraham, Noah was the seventh son of Enosh, seven holidays in Tishrei, etc. A traditional dish on Rosh HASHANA is Fish (which stands for fertility and for "may we been the head, rather than the tail"), and Fish in Hebrew numerology equals SEVEN.

4. ROSH HASHANA IS CELEBRATED BY 101 BLOWS OF THE SHOFAR (Horn), which commemorate the Receipt of the Torah on Mt. Sinai, the destruction of the Temples, the ingathering of the Jews and the Opening of the Gates of Haven for one’s prayers. The root of the word Shofar is "To Improve/improvement – Shipur). A SINGLE Shofar is blown, representing the UNITY OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE. The Shofar must not be covered with ornaments, thus standing for HUMILITY. The prayer preceding the blowing of the Shofar stands for Optimism (God heeds our prayers) and for the fear of – and faith in – God. Another Hebrew word for Shofar is Kesseh, which is derived from the Hebrew word LEKHASOT, to cover (our sins). The first day of the Jewish months always coincides with a fully COVERED moon.

May 5763 be a year of humility, justice, caring, responsibility, consideration, principles, values, realism, tenacity, persistence, long-term strategy (rather than short-term tactic), consistency and faith.

Ora, Tal, Adi and Deganit wish y’all a year of HEALTH!

Yoram