We are in the midst of the holiday of Rosh Hashanah, which celebrates the start of the Jewish New Year. Writer Dane Kuttler, in her Sept. 1 piece on the holiday’s diverse food traditions, points out that with the start of the school year, it is an apt time for reflecting on new beginnings.
In her article, featuring a recipe for beet and pomegranate salad, Kuttler describes how the foods eaten during the celebration serve as metaphors for our hopes for the future. Eating pomegranate seeds is a way to fill yourself with intention to perform mitzvot, or good deeds, in the coming year. Apples and honey are supposed to fill the New Year with sweetness. Even a fish-head soup serves as a reminder to “be a head and not a tail.”
As the Jewish members of our communities celebrate New Years traditions, may all of us reflect on what the past year has brought us and may we all have, as Kuttler writes, a shana tovah u’metukah, a gut yor — a sweet year, a good year, a full year.
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The primary elections and their aftermath dominated the news last week. As 1st Hampshire House District Democratic nominee Lindsay Sabadosa said Tuesday night upon learning she had won her election: “Tonight we celebrate, tomorrow we get to work.”
There is much to celebrate about last week’s election. Sabadosa, Natalie Blais in the 1st Franklin House District, in the 3rd Hampshire House District and Jo Comerford in the Hampshire, Franklin and Worcester Senate District do not face any declared opponent in the general election, so it is highly likely these four women will fill seats previously held by men. Our region is doing its part to help even out the gender disparity that has long plagued the state Legislature.
But there is still much work to be done. Sabadosa named her top priority as working to pass single-payer health legislation. Comerford, who has supported free college, named education as her top priority. We are looking forward to seeing what they accomplish on Beacon Hill.
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It took longer than it should have, but Amherst College late last month announced it would change the name of the Lord Jeffery Inn, which it owns, to the Inn on Boltwood. About 2 1/2 years ago, Amherst College Trustees said they would get rid of their unofficial “Lord Jeff” mascot based on the historical figure Lord Jeffery Amherst, for whom the town and college are named.
Students raised the issue that Lord Jeffery Amherst is understood by many historians to have advocated for the use of germ warfare in distributing smallpox-infested blankets among Native Americans. They rightly protested the continued use of “Lord Jeff” as the mascot that would represent their teams on the field.
After months of discussion, trustees revealed in January 2016 that 85 percent of students, an overwhelming number of faculty, and 52 percent of alumni who responded to a survey on the topic agreed that the Lord Jeff mascot had to go. At the time, trustees also said the name of the inn would change.
We are in the midst of an era when we are being forced to confront the ugly parts of our collective history. The deadly conflict after the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert Lee in Charlottesville, Virginia, is one of many examples of the consequences these discussions and decisions can have.
We commend Amherst College for taking the belated step of changing the name of their inn. Though some, during the original discussion over the mascot, raised the legitimate point that the college can’t erase the past, we believe this decision looks ahead to a more inclusive future.