Rosh Hashanah 5785/2024 falls late this year. All the Jewish Fall holidays are in October this year, including Rosh Hashanah, which is always always in September.
This has foliage implications! Usually the change in foliage starts after Rosh Hashanah, sometimes even after Yom Kippur. But this year it seems that the leaves will start turning (as we say “turning a new leaf”) during “The Ten Days of Repentance” between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Peak Foliage in our area may be between Yom Kippur and Sukkot this year.
Now, this is significant, because Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur – and foliage – are all about change! And foliage teaches us that change can be beautiful!
There are two ways one can experience the beauty of the changing foliage:
One Tree at a Time: Back in our old Shabbos House days we had one tree outside our big window that would turn the most beautiful colors come Fall: magnificent reds and yellows, fiery colors. That tree isn’t what it used to be, but maybe still has some of its luster. The point is that one tree alone can sometimes be a beautiful foliage in and of itself. Micro-Foliage.
A Mountainside of Trees: Then there’s Macro-Foliage, the sweeping panorama beauty of a spread of trees of different types, all turning color, each in their own way, collectively creating a gorgeous tapestry of “carpeted” color, sweeping across the side of a mountain, or looking out over a vast expanse. You can get this feel at places like the Overlooks at nearby Thacher State Park, or from the Dutch Quad Penthouse once color hits peak, or even standing in the UAlbany Stadium looking out at the forested part of Parker Pond.
Same is true with the beauty of change in people. There’s the rich beauty in one person’s individual metamorphosis, and another kind of a beauty of the growth and transformation of a collective community, of a group of people as a whole.
Get away from the screen for a bit. Get out of self. Take the time to appreciate the beauty of change, in ourselves and in others, and in nature, too.