Welcome to the fourth annual post where I scour social media to see which NFL teams share Happy Rosh Hashanah messages. And by scour, I mean that I check NFL teams' Instagram and Twitter pages. I don't search Facebook, TikTok, Bluesky, MySpace, or Friendster or visit individual team websites or drive by NFL facilities to see if they have signs posted outside buildings. I only have so much time! And with that, here are screenshots from NFL teams:
Although I didn't search Facebook, the Eagles' post somehow popped up on my feed.
And then this appeared in my feed:
Including the Eagles (but not Sunderland in the Premier League), that's 10 separate NFL teams. While I'm disappointed that the Steelers didn't include a message this year or in any of the years that I started tracking NFL posts, this is a significant improvement from 2024 when only 4 teams posted messages.
Welcome to my third annual post of NFL teams sharing Happy New Year messages on their social media sites for Rosh Hashanah. Here we go:
While I don't like to give the Ravens any credit, I appreciate that the organization posted a nice new year's message. Same with the Jets, Bears, and Vikings. This is a significant decrease from the 9 teams last year. Four teams posted messages in 2022. The Jets and Ravens are the only two teams that posted greetings all three years.
It's an odd time for Rosh Hashanah. I mean, the Jewish
New Year is always in the fall and the start being in October is a little later than
usual, but the world is different this year. Except for three posts in OctoberandNovember last year, I have not written about the
Israel-Hamas war. I have not written about the protests at many college
campuses across the United States or what appears to be the start of wider war
between Israel and Hezbollah and Iran. I have lots of thoughts and opinions,
but either I don't know how to express them here or don't really want to. (It's
much more of the second option.) I don't want to write something and then
get drawn into a debate about the history of the Middle East or Israeli politics.
While I'm certainly thinking about what is happening in and around Israel and
hope for a peaceful resolution with the release of hostages in Gaza, I want to
wish those who are celebrating a Shana Tova (or Happy New Year).
Here are some maybe happier videos.
Six13 is back, all right!
Disposable plates are the way to go.
Here are two recipes that I will never make.
This video doesn't really have anything to do with Rosh Hashanah. It's just someone taking an hour worth of videos around Jerusalem.
This is a few years old but still funny to me.
Finally, check out this video from the amazing show Parks and Recreation. Starting around the 3:00 minute mark is the reason why.
I share this because there are hundreds of videos every year about the rapture being on Rosh Hashanah. Seems to go perfectly with the Parks and Rec video. Save yourself some time and don't search for those videos on YouTube. They'll be around next year too.
Welcome to my second annual post where I see what National Football League teams use their social media accounts (specifically Twitter) to share a Shana Tova, or Happy New Year, messages for Rosh Hashanah. Last year, 4 NFL teams (the Lions, Jets, Ravens, and Buccaneers) posted a message. With Rosh Hashanah being on a Sunday, I gave the teams a little bit of a pass since the teams' social media departments were probably busy with games. This year, Rosh Hashanah started on Friday evening. Plenty of opportunities for teams to post a message on Friday or Saturday. Let's see the results:
9 this year which is a nice improvement from last year. I really like Chicago having a bear getting honey from a beehive. Well done! I also want to give partial credit to the Carolina Panthers and Buffalo Bills. I mean, if you're celebrating Rosh Hashanah without Bojangles or a wing-eating contest, you're doing it wrong!
If we're making a menu of traditional Rosh Hashanah foods, apples and honey are at the top of the list. Then, you must have a round challah. From there, if you're hosting a dinner, you can have a chicken, beef, or fish main course and maybe some vegetables like carrots or mashed potatoes and a kugel as sides. Finally, finish your meal with some type of cake or apple pie. Why do I mention this? While I really appreciate grocery stores wishing shoppers a Happy New Year, it seems like some just promote any or all Kosher products even if they don't have anything to do with Rosh Hashanah.
This is from Giant:
This is from Safeway:
Again, I don't want to discourage grocery stores from mentioning Rosh Hashanah and acknowledging the holiday. Just leave matzo ball soup and gefilte fish out of it!
Happy
New Year! Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, began on Sunday night with many
Jews around the world attending services or celebrating with friends and/or
family on Monday. Inspired by @soccer_rabbi’s search for new year’s greetings by
soccer/football clubs in the US and England, I was curious to see which NFL
teams posted Rosh Hashanah messages on their social media pages. Here are the
results:
That’s
it. Of the 32 NFL teams, only 4 posted any type of Rosh Hashanah message on
Twitter. While team sites were extremely busy posting information before, during, and after games on
Sunday and then post-game interviews, pictures, etc. on Monday, I expected more than
four. (At least one for the thumb!) Rosh Hashanah is a really big deal for
Jews, significantly more important than Hanukkah which often gets lumped
together with Christmas in America. I’m now a little curious how many teams
post some type of Hanukkah message in December. My guess is that it will be more than 4.
Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, begins Sunday night, so I'm just in time to share videos to celebrate the new year. I don't know what's happening this year. A Cappella groups like six13 and The Maccabeats don't have new videos, and there is not nearly the overall selection of fun and/or meaningful videos compared to previous years. I guess New York Mets fans are happy though.
While the most "rocking" video I could find doesn't even seem to be about Rosh Hashanah, the production by/for the Miami Boys Choir performance is remarkable.
If you want to see more kids performing music, here you go:
Enough about music. Maybe you want to know more about Rosh Hashanah. Take it away Houston.
Maybe you want some recipes.
Well, I think that's about it. Oh, I'm sorry. YouTube has plenty of videos about Rosh Hashanah and the rapture. Apparently, this gentlemen didn't have time to edit out his sneezing before discussing that the rapture is happening because Queen Elizabeth died.
We can't end on that video. Let's think about how the queen witnessed one of the most memorable games in baseball history with opera singer Enrico Pallazzo serving as the home plate umpire.
I'm Jewish. This isn't exactly breaking news since I've been Jewish my entire life and have written about various aspects of Judaism several (or many) times on this blog. Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, and Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, are kind of a big deal. Except for the few years in elementary school when I attended a Jewish school, I would miss school on these holidays. I know some of my non-Jewish friends were jealous that I had excused absences, but it wasn't like I was going to the movies or Kennywood. I was at synagogue and maybe we would have lunch with family or family friends after services on Rosh Hashanah. Even though most (but not all) teachers were understanding about the reason for taking off school, I always felt behind after missing classes. This was especially the case in high school, college, and graduate school. Although I had the "day off," the homework and assignments didn't go away.
After finishing graduate school, I worked a variety of jobs including the one where I'm at now. Every year, I have to take vacation days for these holidays. I always feel like I'm wasting my vacation time. Again, I'm not traveling anywhere or even having a staycation day. Just like when I was in school, my work doesn't go away on these days. The projects are still there when I return, and my inbox is filled with unread messages. There was even one year where an organization I worked organized an entire community-wide event on Rosh Hashanah. That was fun spending months helping to plan an event and then not being able to attend or participate.
I write all this because Fairfax County Public Schools announced a new calendar for 2022-2023 which includes days off for Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and other religious holidays such as the Hindu festival Diwali and the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr. I'm happy that my kids won't have to miss school for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur like I did. Well done, FCPS!
Now, for the 2023-2024 school year, can we talk about winter break? With some of these new days off for holidays, there doesn't need to be 2+ weeks off in December!
Happy Rosh Hashanah to those of you who are celebrating! The Jewish new year begins Friday night and things are going to be a little different this year. Instead of being at synagogue or having meals with friends, I'll be watching a live-stream of services at home and eating with my family like I have every night for the last 6 months. One thing remains the same though. A Rosh Hashanah post with various videos to welcome the year!
First up is Blossom, I mean Amy Farrah Fowler, I mean Mayim Bialik giving a nice overview of Rosh Hashanah.
The Maccabeats are back again this year, and perhaps they have emerged victorious in their battle (in my mind) with fellow a capella group, Six13. I don't see a Rosh Hashanah video from Six 13 this year, so advantage Maccabeats!
Need recipes and ideas of things to do from home during Rosh Hashanah? This may be the video for you!
And here's "Donald Trump" wishing everyone a Happy New Year! The voice is spot on and made me chuckle.
Finally, the perfect Rosh Hashanah video for my Spanish-speaking friends. I mean, unfortunately, I don't speak Spanish, so I'm just assuming that it's the perfect video.
Happy New Year! While some may say next year in Jerusalem, I'll say next year out of the house!
You can also check out my previous Rosh Hashanah posts including some fun videos by clicking here.
Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown on Wednesday and thus begins year 5778 in the Hebrew calendar. Happy New Year! Like previous years, I thought I would share some Rosh Hashanah videos to help you celebrate.
The Maccabeats - This Is the New Year (originally performed by A Great Big World)
The Maccabeats have been a staple of Sean's Ramblings as they perform new songs for seemingly every Jewish holiday and I always post them. Random question: Is acapella out? With Glee and Pitch Perfect, it appeared that acapella music was the in thing a few years ago. Has acapella lost its audience?
Rosh Hashanah Robot Party
There ain't no party like a Technion-Israel Institute of Technology's Cognitive Robotics Lab in the Davidson Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management party!
4 Things Jews Do on Rosh Hashanah by Mayim Bialik
I love Mayim Bialik. I'm sure that I mentioned this before (since I tend to repeat myself after writing this blog for well over a decade), but when I worked at San Diego State University many years ago, Bialik called our office to talk to one of my colleagues about a similar program she was coordinating at UCLA. I remember being really excited and may or may not have screamed, Blossom is on the phone! Blossom is on the phone!
Rapture
Several things here. Rosh Hashanah is the hidden day? I just went to Google and found out that Rosh Hashanah is on September 7th in the year 2097. Not so hidden. In addition, this woman is praying for the rapture? Maybe pray for Hurricane Maria not to cause any destruction or death instead. Let's say that there is a 0.000001% chance that the rapture occurs over the next few on Rosh Hashanah. I'll take the under.
The Pittsburgh Steelers won big against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night, and while you've probably already read everything about the game, here are my random thoughts that you won't see anywhere else.
- The Sunday night game overlapped with the start of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, which started at sundown. I'm actually surprised that there was no mention of Kansas City offensive lineman Mitchell Schwartz being Jewish and playing on Rosh Hashanah. You're probably thinking, well, what's the point of identifying someone's religion? It's not like NBC has the players say their names, colleges (or high schools), and religion.
(In this scenario, would Ike Taylor's swaggin' be appropriate for both the "college" and religion? Would he have to say swaggin' twice or is once enough? Or if he's Baptist would he say "Ike Taylor, Swaggin' (pause) Baptist.")
Anyway, you're also thinking, wait, Al Michaels mentioned that Schwartz left the Cleveland Browns, so that's already a great way for him to celebrate the new year. (Actually, you're probably not thinking about Schwartz at all.) Well yes, but Rosh Hashanah is a big deal. Plus Schwartz and his brother recently published a book about playing in the NFL and their Jewishness, so that could be worthy of a 10-second mention. Based on this Times of Israel article, it's not like he's hiding his religion. Michaels could have said "Happy New Year to Mitchell Schwartz and everyone else celebrating."
- I love the following quote by Michaels later in the telecast: "That time James Harrison, the ageless one at the age of 38, put the heat on."
You can't be ageless and 38! 38 is an age, not ageless.
- Apparently, to demonstrate the intelligence of Chiefs QB Alex Smith, Michaels mentioned that as an economics major at the University of Utah, Smith had a 3.74 GPA. Is there a certain point where you shouldn't discuss someone's GPA? If he's a recent college graduate interviewing for a job, highlighting the GPA is acceptable. However, Smith graduated from college more than 10 years ago!
- Alejandro Villanueva was featured in this USAA commercial. Based on how many commercials he's in lately, I'm still waiting for the version where Antonio Brown appears.
- Speaking of Brown, apparently, he got permission from the NFL to wear cleats honoring the late Arnold Palmer. The NFL needs to do some explaining here. Last year, the league fined DeAngelo Williams for having "Find the Cure" in his eye black in honor of breast cancer awareness and William Gay for wearing purple cleats to show support for domestic violence awareness. Nothing against the great Arnold Palmer, but the league saying that Palmer is more important than these issues. Either have a uniform policy or don't.
- One quick football note. On both of the long touchdown passes to Brown and Darrius Heyward-Bey, the Chiefs defenders went to cover Xavier Grimble. Xavier Grimble is now THE ULTIMATE DECOY!
With Rosh Hashanah starting later this evening, I wanted to wish everyone a very Happy New Year. To get everyone in the holiday spirit, I thought I would share a quick story. Now that my five year old (The Moose) is in kindergarten, he can check out books from the school library. The first week, he brought home a book about astronauts. Apparently, since it's late September/early October, he decided to check out this book.
Merry Christmas, I mean, Happy Rosh Hashanah to all those celebrating. Here's to a great 5777!
I saw this Asics commercial on Tuesday night which seemed extremely appropriate since Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, also concluded on Tuesday evening.
Yes, the guy in the Asics commercial is blowing a shofar. Sure, a shofar is traditionally blown during Rosh Hashanah services, but I guess it could also be a call to action to run up a mountain. Tekiah Gedolah!
So on behalf of everyone here at Sean's Ramblings, Happy New Year!
P.S. It appears that this commercial has been around for months. I just saw it for the first time on Tuesday.
Yom Kippur ended nearly a week ago and Rosh Hashanah is now two weeks behind us. So, of course, I'm writing about the High Holy Days/High Holidays today. I'm all about timing.
Anyway, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are days of reflection, prayer, celebration (in the case of Rosh Hashanah) and atonement (in the case of Yom Kippur). Going to synagogue for these holidays/holy days is a bit more challenging with two children. Fortunately, the synagogue we attended included many families and services specifically geared towards kids. Unfortunately, if you (and by you I mean me) wanted some individual time for prayer, that wasn't going to happen.
This isn't going to be a religious post, so please don't leave just because of the topic. It's more about the experience going to synagogue for the high holidays with kids rather than, well, something else.
On the first day of Rosh Hashanah, we got to synagogue early compared to when the preschool service started. Almost immediately after we got our seats in the main sanctuary, our five-month old started crying. He exited the sanctuary leaving me alone with my 3 year-old son. Naturally, the 3-year old was a little restless though he enjoying playing with my tallit. (That line could sound dirty. A tallit, or tallis, is a prayer shawl. I'm not sure that makes it sound better. How about a picture of a Steelers tallis instead?)
It didn't take long until we exited the sanctuary to find the preschool service. The preschool service was outstanding with an energetic and patient teacher, and after a successful trip to the potty (for my 3 year-old, not me), we went back to the grown-up service. We entered during the Torah service and saw them carry the Torah around the room. Unfortunately, I quickly realized we came in during the end of the Torah service. We arrived just in time for...the Rabbi's sermon! While my kids might be fascinated by some prayers/songs, they weren't going go get anything out of the likely 15-minute sermon. It was more likely that they would distract others. We quickly left.
During the morning Yom Kippur service, we went straight to the kids' service. After that ended and with both kids occupied, I wanted to go into the main service for a few minutes. The room was packed, so I managed to squeeze into the middle of a row. About 2 minutes after I entered, the Rabbi called up two members of the congregation...to present the annual appeal asking the congregation to give money to the synagogue! I was stuck. There was no way I could discretely sneak out, so I stayed and listened and hoped it would end quickly. When it did, I pushed (not literally) my way out.
I guess the morale of this story is that I'm not ready to take my kids to the main Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services. Maybe next year?
With Rosh Hashanah and year 5775 starting Wednesday evening, party today by, um, watching these Rosh Hashanah related videos (and a bonus non-Rosh Hashanah video at the end).
This has to be the only Rosh Hashanah video featuring a guy wearing a Kelcie McCray Kansas City Chiefs jersey. Unless of course Kelcie McCray has his own video singing "All About That Rosh."
Ready to try the Honey Bucket Challenge?
Here's British Prime Minister David Cameron's Rosh Hashanah message. I noticed that he didn't thank the Jews in Scotland for voting against independence.
I see that President Barack Obama plays the friends with Elie Weisel card.
Not only does one of the guys in this video have a great voice, but he can also juggle apples. Now that's talent! He's like the Andrew McCutchen of acapella!
Finally, congratulations to the Pittsburgh Pirates on reaching the playoffs for a second consecutive year! Benstonium put together the Pirates radio call with the final outs. Let's Go Bucs!
Rosh Hashanah begins this evening, so enjoy these videos and party like it's 5773 (which it is for a few more hours).
I bet you didn't know the video below includes the lyrics of the first draft of Daft Punk and Pharrell Williams' Get Lucky.
I think Macklemore & Ryan Lewis would approve of this version of their song.
Based on the accents, I can't figure out where Ben's Deli is located. Pittsburgh? Alabama?
Matisyahu has some competition.
Finally, these videos has nothing to do with Rosh Hashanah, but I'm really excited about the Pirates. Benstonium did an amazing job putting together these awesome videos.
- My son starts his first day of preschool today. It's a brand new place for him with teachers and other kids he has never met. Plus, instead of sleeping in a crib or pack-and-play, he's going to sleep on a mat for the first time. While I'm sure that he'll be fine and I know this is going to be a wonderful experience for him, I'm a little nervous.
- We received a letter last week from our mortgage company.
A recent analysis of loan file documentation revealed there was an error in the amount you were charged.
Oh?
In order to correct this error we are reducing your principal balance...
Woo Hoo! Big Bucks, No Whammies!
...by $2.57, the amount that was charged in error, along with interest accrued. Please accept our apology for this error.
Um, apology accepted. Now I'll use this $2.57 towards a Wendy's Frosty and fries.
- Rosh Hashanah begins tomorrow night. Yes, it is really early this year. (More on this tomorrow.) Yom Kippur and Hanukkah are also really early this year. I'm sure you'll hear about how early the holidays are about 1,000 more times, particularly around Thanksgiving.
- While I'm not making any assumptions about the Pirates making the playoffs, if they make it for the first time since 1992, I figured that they wouldn't match up well with the Braves and Dodgers. With the additions of Marlon Byrd & Justin Morneau, they match up a little better.
Happy Rosh Hashanah to those who recently celebrated the Jewish New Year! In honor of the New Year (besides eating apples and honey), here are two Rosh Hashanah videos to start your year.
This is what One Direction would look like if they were Orthodox and lived in Israel:
This is not what Psy would look like if he was born and raised in New York:
(Sean's note in 2020: Unfortunately, I don't know what this video was, but it's not on YouTube anymore.)
Don't forget to write 5773 on all of your checks. I'm sure it will take me months to stop writing 5772 on them!
There's a video for everything these days. A search for Rosh Hashanah on YouTube results in thousands of videos. Here are two such videos to celebrate the new year. Yes, we're going to party like it's 5772.
I could share my story about where I was for the East Coast earthquake, but it really isn't exciting. Actually, I do find it funny (and possibly stupid) that I felt the need to check Facebook to see where the earthquake hit and if everyone was okay instead of evacuating the building. Anyway, I went to bed late Tuesday night after watching earthquake coverage, working on a blog post and falling asleep on the couch (this is a frequent occurrence). I finally went upstairs around 12:45 AM with Ziggy joining me in bed and laying by my feet. Less than two minutes later, I thought I felt some shaking, but since Ziggy didn't move (he apparently flew through the house to hide under the bed during the Tuesday afternoon earthquake), I didn't think much of it. Sure enough, The Washington Post indicated that it was a 3.4 magnitude aftershock. Apparently, there was a 4.5 aftershock on Wednesday night, but I slept through it. (You'll be happy to know that I did not sleep through my baby crying around 4:00.)
Meanwhile, I went to the fitness center on Tuesday evening for my quarterly fitness assessment. Amazingly, while I gained 1.5 pounds over the past three months, my body mass index decreased 1.1% meaning that my weight went up due to increased muscle mass despite minimal exercise over the past quarter. The only explanation I have is the constant lifting and carrying of an infant has improved my strength.
How about some links for your Friday?
Where were you for the earthquake? Ngewo was in the bathroom. Some language is NSFW since Ngewo was, well, in the bathroom. [Ngewo's World]
Californians Are Being Insufferable About This Earthquake [Gawker]
The P-G profiles Mac Miller and Frick Park Market. Frick Park's blue slide, shown briefly in the new video, is my all-time favorite playground ride. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]
Tecmo discovers a Pittsburgh Penguins yarmulke. I really should get a Pirates, Steelers or Penguins kippah to compete with the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Yankees ones at Rosh Hashanah. [PSAMP]
The Pensblog guys do an amazing guest spot on Yahoo's Puck Daddy. [Puck Daddy]
Welcome to Sean's Ramblings! If you're looking for thoughts on pop culture, music, fun and informative links, random DC and Pittsburgh info, sports (particularly Pittsburgh sports), and just what's going on in my life, then you're come to the right place.
Any questions, comments or links? Contact me at seanramblings[at]yahoo[dot]com.
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