Reply To: inspiring Rosh Hashanah story

Thank you for the encouraging and kind replies that I have received here.

Although I feel hurt by some of the other things I have read here in reply to my story, I do understand that there is uncertainty with the internet — one can’t be sure that what one is reading is true or that the person writing is honest.

I will try to address some of the questions regarding the details. Please remember that for some of the things that happened, I am trying to explain things that I saw that I don’t fully understand yet (regarding rituals, for instance).

The going to the sea did not happen each day — as I wrote, I saw what appeared to be praying each day. The trip to the sea that all the men, women, and children did only happened once that I saw, at approximately 3-4 pm on Tuesday. Although one person first approached me on the beach, the others who came over were just a few steps behind. The first person who approached me said when I inquired that the group was “mostly Modern Orthodox.” They blew the shofar for me on the big outdoor porch of the beach house — I did not enter into the interior of the house. The families were not there for the entirety of the High Holy Days — as I mentioned, they were leaving Tuesday night when Rosh Hashanah ended to return to their homes. They only rented the house for Rosh Hashanah. Although it is true that Ocean City, New Jersey is dry, “wet” towns are are about five minutes away. It does not appear that lack of alcohol was a problem — the trash pick up on the street has yet to occur, so I can see cardboard apple boxes and beer boxes stacked at the curbside with the trashcans.

more2, I just don’t even know enough about the context of this website, as opposed to other Internet sources, to be able to understand why my coming here repeatedly, reading, and posting could be characterized as absurd.