“I’m actually thinking about changing my behavior with my brother — he’s 7 — because I’ve been pretty mean to him. I can be a little more nice, even if he annoys me…. I learn a lot during the holidays. You learn about how to react, and what you should do and how you should be, like you can’t be rude to people. And you have to ask forgiveness for all the stuff you’ve done and make it a new start, like you’re starting all over again.”
— Brandon Ross, 10, Canfield Elementary School and Temple Emanuel Religious School
“I’m going to set the table for Rosh Hashanah with a tablecloth and lots of food…. I like the challah. My dad always buys chocolate chip challah because it’s my favorite.”
— Lexi Shafa, 6, Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy
“I think we need to have a cleaner world so people can live longer and not get diseases, like lung cancer. We need to do a better job of throwing away trash and recycling. I think we don’t need to cut off as many trees as we do. We should find a new way to make paper than just cutting down trees. I had a chance to go to Costa Rica and see the rain forest, and I saw how many stumps there were and it was really sad. I think the High Holidays is a time to pray and to thank God for all the beautiful stuff that we have, like good health, and a good education, and a roof over our heads; and it’s a good time to be with family and to enjoy yourself.”
— Teddy Sokoloff, 9, Center for Early Education and Temple Emanuel Religious
“I’m going to go buzz buzz like a bee, and go round and round and round like a challah and dip the apple in the honey.”
— Moses Bar-Yotam, 4, Institute of Jewish Education
“I like some holidays, and some holidays I feel sad. I like Passover and I like Rosh Hashanah — I like a lot of them. I feel happy at the sound of the shofar. It’s a holiday when my family comes together.”
— Ariana Garrotto, 7, El Rodeo School and Temple Emanuel Religious School
“I’m going to daven for the Beit Hamikdash [Jerusalem Temple] to come back, and for all my aveirot [sins] to leave and that we should have a happy year. I’m going to work on lashon hara [gossip] and give tzedakah so everybody has a house and money to live.”
— Evan Teichman, 7, Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy
“My aunt got really sick and then she got better, so I’ll be thinking about how she keeps getting better. I’ve been thinking about my dancing a lot — I’m a hard-core ballet dancer. My family has been spending a lot of time together, so I can’t really say I want to spend more time with my family because we are spending as much time together as possible. If we wanted to spend any more time together we would have to stay up all night!”
— Tess Levinson, 10, Center for Early Education and Temple Emanuel Religious School
“On Rosh Hashanah my cousins are coming to my grandma’s house, because I’m having Rosh Hashanah at my grandma’s house. We used to have it in my house, but now it’s at my grandma’s.”
— Liv Berg, 4, Institute of Jewish Education
“I think about what I might have done this past year to hurt someone or to help someone, and I think about whether I want to repeat it. My sister and I get into fights, and sometimes the fights are bigger, and I really hurt her or she really hurts me, and I feel bad and I don’t want to do it again.
“I had my bat mitzvah in April, and now I feel more obligated to do the High Holidays, because now I’m part of the adult Jewish community. For my bat mitzvah, I helped an organization called, Turn Purple; it helps homeless kids. In April, everyone who is involved wears purple, and they have a petition that people sign to get a bill so we don’t have homeless kids.”
— Shoshana Young, 13, Beverly Vista School and Temple Emanuel Religious School
“I’m trying to work on teshuvah, tefillah and tzedakah [repentance, prayer and charity]. I’m kind of excited and I don’t know if I’ll be judged as bad, in the middle or good. I want to be good; I’m trying to work on that. I’m trying to be nicer to my friends and stuff, because they’ll be happier and nicer to me if we work things out together.”
— Lorien Orpelli, 9, Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy
“As a school, [Temple Emanuel] really makes the High Holidays great because everyone comes together and sings songs, and it’s a lot of fun. There is no other holiday where you learn about your religion as much as on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. You learn about your religion and you come closer to your religion and get more of the meaning of it — you say, ‘I’m Jewish and I should be doing this or should be doing that and helping the community.’ I think the High Holidays are the most important holidays because it’s about finding your mistakes and saying you can do better the next time.”
— Max Shapiro, 11, Center for Early Education and Temple Emanuel Religious School
“I am going to be a better fire-truck driver and be a firefighter when I get big.”
— Nathan Nassir, 4, Institute of Jewish Education
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