The First Rosh Hashanah
Gellman, Marc
The First Bosh Hashanah Marc Gellman When Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden by God, he was amazed at everything. The smell of the flowers made him dance. The sound of the birds made him sing...
...Adam was happy but confused...
...I hope you will forgive me...
...But of all the things that amazed Adam, the most amazing to him was the sun...
...After a long while, he felt something warm on his back...
...He cried all night long, and he kept his eye on the exact spot where the sun had disappeared...
...the time of four weeks one month...
...Ten centuries...
...Maybe the sun will go down and never come up again...
...To each living thing Adam said, "I won't see you tomorrow...
...Then God explained to him how the time from one going down of the sun to another going down of the sun was one day...
...When Adam awakened the next day, he smelled the flowers and heard the birds singing...
...By this time Adam had fallen asleep...
...Then Adam would kiss the thing and move on around the garden...
...Ten decades are one century...
...After a while, just after Adam had finished saying he was sorry to some bug, he felt something warm on his back...
...but, what time will come after one year...
...He counted and waited and worried...
...The sound of the birds made him sing for joy...
...He went around the garden chewing his fingernails and saying goodbye to all the things in the garden...
...A year is the biggest time...
...and the time of twelve months one year...
...He turned around and saw the sun peeking over the other edge of the garden...
...Time was even bigger than the sun...
...When the year is used up all the time will be used up...
...He felt better doing it, and he remembered how scared he had been during that first year...
...He counted the days and the weeks and the months, waiting for one year...
...Adam began to think, "God has told me that this day will be followed by six other days to make one week, and that this week will be followed by three others to make one month, and that this month will be followed by eleven others to make one year...
...Adam was still amazed at things, but now he was frightened and worried...
...Maybe...
...It warmed his face without touching him, and it was the only thing in the garden he could not reach...
...On the evening of the last day of the last week of the last month of the year, Adam did not sleep a wink...
...When the wonderful sun disappeared behind the edge of the garden, Adam was really scared...
...He was amazed at the bigness of time...
...Then Adam heard God counting, "Ten years are one decade...
...Then God stopped telling Adam about time...
...Adam decided to remember the end of each year by apologizing to all the living things he might have hurt during that year...
...He whirled around and saw the sun peeping up over the edge of the garden again, just like every day of the old year...
...If I have hurt your feelings this year I am sorry...
...said Adam...
...Marc Gellman, Hillel director at Northwestern University, frequently contributes contemporary Midrashim to moment...
...By the time the twelfth month came around, Adam was fidgety and nervous and could not sleep at night...
...no time...
...I will have to live in the cold and dark where I will not be able to see the flowers or hear the birds, and I will trip over things...
...the time of seven days one week...
...The sun will go down and never come up...
Vol. 2 • September 1977 • No. 9
