Stacey’s M.M. Post: What do you mean it’s supposed to rain on the second day of Rosh Hashanah!??!?!

I’ve been checking the weather all weekend. It simply cannot rain tonight, tomorrow, and Wednesday. However, it looks like it might on Wednesday. It’s not supposed to rain on the High Holidays!

I grew up in a pretty large synagogue in New Jersey. There were three services for Rosh Hashanah: two in the Sanctuary (and early one and a late one) and one in the Social Hall. We always attended the early Sanctuary Service. As a result, when it ended, we’d proceed to the synagogue’s upper foyer and take the exterior steps down to the street level. As the folks who were heading to the late service passed us, I’d stand by my parents side, greeting folks I knew and saying “Shana Tova” to everyone my parents chatted with. We dreaded the rain on the holidays since that meant we couldn’t take the steps downstairs. However, it rarely rained on Yamim Noraim throughout my entire childhood.

I haven’t stood on these steps since 2001 since I began attending a synagogue of my own. And even though I’ve moved to Rhode Island, and have now joined a synagogue up here, there’s something about having rain on Rosh Hashanah that doesn’t appeal to me. It’s not supposed to rain since rain precludes people from walking to and from synagogue comfortably on these holidays. Furthermore, it takes away the ‘meeting and greeting’ that I’m sure many congregations have, even if there aren’t any steps that people stop and chat on like the synagogue in which I grew up.

Regardless of the weather:

So, if you are celebrating the start of 5769 tonight, then G’mar Hatima Tova.