By Dr. David Sanders
The connotation of “headfirst” holds a paradox. To plunge into something headfirst suggests enthusiasm, passion, even abandon. But it can also imply a lack of forethought and caution. Is going headfirst, then, something to be applauded—or a cause for concern?
In Hebrew, the head—rosh—belongs not only to the body but also to our language of time. We may wish one another a Happy New Year, but the literal meaning of Rosh Hashanah is the Head of the Year. And the Torah begins with Bereishit, “In the beginning,” a word that carries within it reishit—beginning—and an echo of rosh, head. Did creation itself, in some sense, begin headfirst?
And what marks our own beginning?
For most of us, we came into this world headfirst. The rest of the body followed. And almost immediately, our entrance into the world was attached to time: a date, an hour, perhaps even a minute.
I was once getting my blood drawn when the technician noticed my date of birth and smiled. “We share a birthday,” she said. “We were born on the same day, in the same year,” and then added, “I must be older as I was born early in the morning.” She had been born at about 7:30, I was born at 9:05. She smiled, assuming that settled it.
“Where were you born?” I asked.
“Los Angeles.”
I was born in Atlantic City. Once we accounted for the time difference, it turned out that I had entered the world an hour and twenty-five minutes before her.
Two heads emerged into the world on the same date, at different places and different moments. From those births we headed in different directions, to live our distinctive lives. Years later, at a particular time and place neither of us could have anticipated, our paths converged for a few minutes.
There is a saying: Where the head goes, the body follows. We understand it anatomically, but perhaps it is also a teaching about time. Our mindset, our orientation, the direction in which we turn our attention can shape the next moment, the next hour, the next year—even the course of a lifetime.
Perhaps that is why a new year needs a Rosh.
Before heading into another year, we are invited to stop, reflect and take note of where our head has been leading us. Where have our attitudes and assumptions taken us, what has been our mindset and do we need to adjust our orientation. Having done so, perhaps the invitation is precisely to enter the new year headfirst—with abandon, not recklessly but wholeheartedly—and trust that the year will follow.
