I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, autumn is my absolute favourite season. Right now, there are so many delicious garden goodies in season. Butternut and acorn squash, carrots, potatoes, beets, greens, beans, you name it. With autumn comes a cornucopia of classic, seasonal produce.
Not only are these crops hearty and good for you, but they are all so beautiful. Our carrots are a variety of fall colours including orange, yellow, purple and white. The sunflowers in our garden are at their peak right now, and I’m holding onto hope that they last through these cooler nights.
Plus, there’s the obvious – the fall transition. It is harvest time, it is time for the trees to change their colours and drop their dead leaves. You can literally see and feel the shift. Days get shorter, nights are cooler, and we prepare ourselves for the winter ahead.
Rosh Hashanah, The Jewish new year, usually takes place in September or October (the dates vary – the Jewish calendar is based on the lunar cycle and Hebrew calendar).
According to some basic research, the origin of the Hebrew New Year is connected to the beginning of the economic new year, specifically within the Near East.
“The New Year was the beginning of the cycle of sowing, growth, and harvest; the harvest was marked by its own set of major agricultural festivals. The Semites generally set the beginning of the new year in autumn, while other ancient civilizations chose spring…”
There are also other reasons for the Jewish new year to fall when it does, including religious beliefs surrounding the creation of world.
The New Year that I celebrate, on January 1, also has ancient ties.
According to the encyclopedia Britannica, ancient tradition states that during his reign, Roman King Numa Pompilius changed the Roman republican calendar so that January replaced March as the first month.
There were several changes to the calendar after that, with the year beginning in March or December, and ultimately in 1582 Pope Gregory introduced a revised calendar with January 1 as the start of the New Year.
“Great Britain and its American colonies did not begin following the Gregorian calendar until 1752. Before then, they celebrated New Year’s Day on March 25.”
Rosh Hashanah taking place in autumn makes perfect sense to me, for completely non-religious reasons. It seems to me that it would make far more sense to celebrate the new year now, as opposed to the dark, dreary and depressing days that are January.
We celebrate the fall equinox (this year) on September 22nd and the harvest moon is set for September 20th. Last year, the Harvest Moon fell in October. The harvest moon is the full moon that occurs nearest to the autumnal equinox. So, curiously, this year they are just two days apart.
According to the Farmer’s Almanac, “around the fall equinox, the full moon rises around sunset for several nights in a row, which traditionally provided farmers with just enough extra light for them to finish their harvests before the killing frosts of fall set in. Normally, the moon rises about an hour later each night, but around the time of the fall equinox, the angle of the moon’s orbit and the tilt of the Earth line up just right and cause the Moon to rise only about 20 to 30 minutes later for several nights in a row.”
The Almanac also shares that the Harvest Moon name is derived from various sources, including Native American, Colonial American and European.
Regardless of when the new year falls, I will consider this time of transition and change a fresh start. A time for growth, for reflection, for harvesting and planning for the future.
“Another fall, another turned page.” – Wallace Stegner
