One of the traditions on the first day of Rosh Hashanah is Tashlich, when Jews symbolically cast away their sins by tossing breadcrumbs into a body of water (though the ceremony can take place at any time during the High Holidays until Hoshana Rabah, the 7th day of Sukkot). The ceremony arose from a verse from the prophet Micah (7:19), which states, “He will take us back in love; He will cover up our iniquities, You will hurl all our sins into the depths of the sea.” Last year, Hillel at Stanford University partnered with another student organization to celebrate Tashlich in a non-traditional way. What did they do?
Tashlich in Tel Aviv 1920 by Shimon Korbman is in the public domain.
A. Hillel partnered with the Student Space Initiative to celebrate the tradition with Tashlich in Space. Jewish students wrote their sins on slips of paper which were placed, along with breadcrumbs, inside a rocket which the Student Space Initiative built and launched skyward. The program was promoted with the slogan “Reflect. Renew. Blastoff.”
B. Hillel partnered with the Stanford Muslim Student Association to celebrate the Tashlich tradition with Pita for Peace. Jewish and Muslim students met together and baked pita bread, while teaching each other about Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and Raʿs as-Sanah al-Hijrīyah, the Islamic New Year. Then all of the students collected the crumbs from the baking project and tossed them into nearby San Francisco Bay.
C. Hillel partnered with the Mock Trial Club to celebrate the tradition with Mock-Atone. Jewish students described the sins which they wished to symbolically cast away, and members of the Mock Trial Club voted on whether to accept their contrition or not. The students whose sins were absolved then pushed the non-forgiven students into the university swimming pool as prayers were recited.
D. Hillel partnered with the Stanford chapter of Swipe Out Hunger, an organization that provides meals from student meal cards to homeless and hungry people in the local community. The program, Cast Out Your Sins–Hand Out Your Bread, enabled Jewish students to give away loaves of bread to those in need, rather than simply throwing away breadcrumbs. The program was promoted with the slogan “Feed Your Soul, Feed Your Neighbor.”
E. Hillel partnered with the Stanford Cannabis Alliance to celebrate Tashlich/Hashlich. The students spent the evening smoking pot and munching on Cheetos, Oreos, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Then they all picked up the munchy crumbs from their laps and tossed them around the room before falling asleep on the couch.