Rosh haShanah la-Behemah

Explanation and ritual for the Jewish New Year’s Day for Animals, Rosh haShanah la-Behemah on Rosh Ḥodesh Elul

Once upon a time when the Temple still stood, the Rosh haShanah la-Behemah celebrated one means by which we elevated and esteemed the special creatures that helped us to live and to work. Just as rabbinic Judaism found new ways to realize our Temple offerings with tefillot — prayers — so too the Rosh haShanah la-Behemah challenges us to realize the holiness of the animals in our care in a time without tithes. The Jewish New Year’s Day for Animals is a challenge to remind and rediscover what our responsibilities are to the animals who depend on us for their welfare. Are we treating them correctly and in accord with the mitsvah of tsa’ar baalei ḥayyim — sensitivity to the suffering of living creatures? Have we studied and understood the depth of ḥesed — lovingkindness — expressed in the breadth of our ancestors teachings concerning the welfare of animals in Torah?haShanah la-Behemah is the day to reflect on our immediate or mediated relationships with domesticated animals, recognize our personal responsibilities to them, individually and as part of a distinct and holy people, and repair our relationships to the best of our ability. . . .

Categories: Rosh haShanah la-Behemah, Rosh Ḥodesh Elul (אֶלוּל)

Tags: animal welfare, animals, behemah, בהמות behemot, Compassion, eco-conscious, ḥeshbon nefesh, shofar blowing, צער באלי חיים tsa'ar baalei ḥayyim

Contributor(s): Aharon N. Varady

A Blessing for the Bugs on the Jewish New Year’s Day for Animals, Rosh Hashana La-Behemah, by Trisha Arlin

I have come to see That we are not the only creatures who are B’tzelem Elohim, We are all in God’s image. So today, on Rosh Ḥodesh Elul, On the New Year of the Domesticated Beasts, Let’s give thanks to the bugs Like the four questioning children Wise and snarky and simple and oblivious, Like the four worlds of the kabbala The earth, the sky, the heart and the spirit We give thanks and acknowledge The bugs we have domesticated The bugs who serve us in their wild state The bugs that hurt us or gross us out And the bugs who live only for themselves, without any reference to us. . . .

Categories: Rosh haShanah la-Behemah, Rosh Ḥodesh Elul (אֶלוּל)

Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., crawling things, English vernacular prayer, first person, four worlds, Fourth Day of Creation, insects, neo-lurianic, New York City, North America, Prayers as poems

Contributor(s): Trisha Arlin

Kavvanah before Shofar Blowing on Rosh Ḥodesh Elul for Rosh haShanah la-Behemah (the Jewish New Year’s Day for Animals)

The text of this ritual shofar blowing for Rosh Ḥodesh Elul on Rosh haShanah La-Behemah developed as part of the annual ceremony taking place at the dairy barn on the campus of the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center beginning in 2009 under the auspices of Elat Chayyim Center for Jewish Spirituality and the Adamah Farm & Fellowship. The first Rosh haShanah ritual ceremony was co-developed by Rabbi Jill Hammer and Kohenet Sarah Chandler. My contribution of the kavvanah came a year later in 2010. The text presented here was built upon that ceremony and was presented first at the Hazon Detroit Jewish Food Festival in 2016. . . .

Categories: Rosh haShanah la-Behemah, Rosh Ḥodesh Elul (אֶלוּל)

Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., animal protection, animal welfare, בהמות behemot, אלול elul, חשבון הנפש Ḥeshbon HaNefesh, שופר shofar, shofar blowing, the sixth month, צער באלי חיים tsa'ar baalei ḥayyim, זמן תשובה Zman teshuvah

Contributor(s): Aharon N. Varady

Im Monat Ellul wenn der Schofer geblasen wird | In the month of Elul when the shofar is blown, a teḥinah by Yehoshua Heshil Miro (1829)

Explanation and ritual for the Jewish New Year’s Day for Animals, Rosh haShanah la-Behemah on Rosh Ḥodesh Elul

A Blessing for the Bugs on the Jewish New Year’s Day for Animals, Rosh Hashana La-Behemah, by Trisha Arlin

Kavvanah before Shofar Blowing on Rosh Ḥodesh Elul for Rosh haShanah la-Behemah (the Jewish New Year’s Day for Animals)

Meat and Feathers: We Confess, a vidui for Rosh haShanah la-Behemah (the Jewish New Year’s Day for Animals), by Trisha Arlin