Commemorating the High Holidays September 2001 1 | 2 | 3 | NEXT September is a month for the sacred and the profane in Judaica Philately. The sacred includes the High Holidays of Rosh Hashana (New Year) and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), as well as the holiday of Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles). As noted last month, Israel issues a set of stamps each year for the High Holidays, and the majority of these have been issued in September. But rather than focus on these sets, as was done last month with August's issues, this column begins by noting stamps that can be used to illustrate aspects of these holidays. For instance, a set of stamps commemorating Sukkot was issued by Israel in 1971 (Scott #454-8). This holiday celebrated the booths lived in by the Jews during their exodus from Egypt; the holiday is also related to the harvesting of the crops, and uses the special symbols of the etrog and lulav (seen on Israel #35-6). The set of stamps depict relevant Biblical quotes (e.g., Leviticus 23). A perfect stamp to illustrate Yom Kippur is Israel #569 issued in 1975. It features a painting by Mauricy Gottlieb depicting a synagogue scene. The artist has included himself, as well as his fiance and her mother into the scene. (The marriage did not take place and some have said that his despondency about thebreak up led to an illness that proved fatal at the young age of 23.) Part of the traditional celebration of Rosh Hashana includes the ceremony of "tashlich," when Jews go to a body of moving water and symbolically cast their sins into it. This ceremony was depicted on a 1984 Polish stamp (#2625). A shofar, or ram's horn, is sounded several times on Rosh Hashana and at the conclusion of services on Yom Kippur. A depiction of a shofar is on a stamp (#101) in the 1955 New Year set. Bible Illustrated 1 | 2 | 3 | NEXT © 2001, J-Stamps/Murray Frost. All Rights Reserved. froststamps@yahoo.com