Sweet New Year
There’s a reason we dip apples in honey.
Every Rosh Hashanah, we reach for that small, sticky ritual and say something hopeful out loud: may the year ahead be sweet. It’s a simple, yet meaningful gesture. We’re not just tasting sweetness. We’re wishing it into being, for ourselves and for one another.
Rosh Hashanah, which begins at sundown on Friday, September 11 this year and ushers in the Hebrew year 5787, is a time for reflection and renewal—as individuals and as a community. It’s also a celebration of sweetness: the literal, spoon-licking kind, and the deeper kind that comes from connection, generosity, and beginning again.
And here’s the beautiful thing about the apple and the honey: neither one is complicated. You don’t need a grand resolution to bring more sweetness into the year. Sometimes the sweetest changes are the smallest ones—a new skill, a kind gesture, a little more care for someone else. Here are a few approachable ways to bring some extra sweetness to the year ahead, both for yourself and our community. (No willpower or January-style guilt required. Just a few sweet places to start.)
Create something meaningful. Try an art, ceramics, or JudaicART class. Learning something new awakens creativity and tends to introduce you to people you might not have met otherwise. Renewal, after all, can start with a lump of clay.
Bake a little joy. Register for our Jewish baking class on Thursday, September 10, from 6:30 to 8:30 PM, where we’ll make two cakes traditionally enjoyed at the new year: Deb Perelman’s mom’s famous apple cake and the Marian Burros plum torte made famous by The New York Times. Come explore tradition through flavor and leave with something wonderful to share around your own table
Support a young family. Drop a package of diapers or a piece of gently used baby gear into the Community Baby Closet. During a family’s earliest, most overwhelming years, a small contribution can mean a great deal.
Share a day at the pool. Invite a friend to the JCC pool and treat them to a guest pass. Sometimes strengthening community really is as simple as making room for one more person.
Send something from the heart. In an age of texts and quick reactions, a real letter lands differently. Write to a family member or friend for the new year. Share a favorite memory, express gratitude, or simply let them know you’re thinking of them.
Bring home local sweetness. Buy honey from a local beekeeper or small business for your Rosh Hashanah table. It’s a sweet tradition that also supports the wider community. (We’ll have honey available soon in our lobby, with all proceeds benefiting the Robert E. Loup Scholarship Fund. Enjoy the honey, support kids in our community—win-win!)
Give your time. Volunteer with Jewish Family Service. Whether you’re helping address food insecurity, supporting older adults, or assisting families, gifting your time can make the year sweeter for someone else—and, more often than not, for you too.
Small Actions, Sweeter Year. A community reset doesn’t happen through sweeping gestures but rather through small, intentional choices. So pick one or two that speak to you and let the rest go. However, you choose to begin again this year, we hope you’ll do it alongside the people and community that make it meaningful. May the year ahead be filled with creativity, connection, generosity, and sweetness—for you and for our entire community.
(Reminder: the JCC will close at 3:30 PM on September 11 and remain closed on September 12 and 13 in observance of Rosh Hashanah.)
Celebrate Sukkot at the JCC Denver
Gather under the sukkah for a week of food, tradition, creativity, and community! From family fun and an LGBTQIA+ brunch to celebrations for older adults and young adults, there are plenty of ways to celebrate Sukkot at the JCC.
Whether Sukkot is an annual tradition or your first time celebrating, there’s a place for you in our sukkah.