I think Rosh Hashana is not only about moving forward, but about using our pasts to propel us forward. We take account of what we have done in the past, we confess, we evaluate, and it is from this looking back that we can decide who and what we want to be and do in the future year. So that proceeding forward requires looking back, so that you are taking with you the memory of what you are leaving behind, and is both the leaving and the taking, together, that give us the strength to grow into the new year.
Incidentally, I'm currently working on a talk that I am giving on Yom Kippur about what the "opposite" of Yom Kippur might look like. I think you are right to question whether leaving behind is actually the "opposite" of tshuva, of return. So often the things that we imagine as opposites are actually just two sides of the same coin.
Gabrielle, this is so beautiful and helpful.
I think Rosh Hashana is not only about moving forward, but about using our pasts to propel us forward. We take account of what we have done in the past, we confess, we evaluate, and it is from this looking back that we can decide who and what we want to be and do in the future year. So that proceeding forward requires looking back, so that you are taking with you the memory of what you are leaving behind, and is both the leaving and the taking, together, that give us the strength to grow into the new year.
Incidentally, I'm currently working on a talk that I am giving on Yom Kippur about what the "opposite" of Yom Kippur might look like. I think you are right to question whether leaving behind is actually the "opposite" of tshuva, of return. So often the things that we imagine as opposites are actually just two sides of the same coin.