The Mishnah tells us, “The four new years are:
On the first of Nisan, the new year for the kings and for the festivals;
On the first of Elul, the new year for the tithing of animals;
Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Shimon say, in the first of Tishrei
On the first of Tishrei, the new year for years, for the Sabbatical years and for the Jubilee years and for the planting and for the vegetables
On the first of Shevat, the new year for the trees, these are the words of the House of Shammai; The House of Hillel says, on the fifteenth thereof.”

We have always counted time in different ways and needed time markers to help us in the most practical of ways yet also for reflection.  The relationship between Rosh Hashanah and the beginning of the secular year is a perfect one for me.  We come straight out of the summer into the High Holy Days. Taken seriously the High Holy Days can be a challenging time of self reflection.  The Jewish year takes us from the intensity of Tishrei filled with more festivals than any of us can really cope with into the month of Cheshvan, the only month in the Jewish calendar with no festivals or special mitzvot associated with it.  It is easy to slip into normal life forgetting the difficult work of intended self improvement that was done over the High Holy Days.  Yet, as the days draw in, the snow begins to fall and we are presented with our secular new year we remember that our lives in the real world have to be affected by the promises we make to ourselves and God in our religious lives.  The New Year in January picks us up, reminds us with another new beginning that it is never too late to change our ways or make amends.  The religious and the secular new years sew together the importance of the thoughts and the actions.  If we had 12 months between opportunities to start again and turn over a new leaf would we ever see any of the good intentions through?  Perhaps we need to go back to the quarterly new years of the Mishnah to keep reminding ourselves to take a break and think about our lives and where we are going.

Rabbi Miriam Berger