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41 Merchant Taylors’ Prep School Newsletter - 14.10.2022 MTP Religious Studies Friday, 30th September (fittingly between the two festivals of Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur) saw four boys from Y6 and Y8 delivering a fantastic assembly on Yamim Nora’im – The Days of Awe. James Gillardian (Y8) and Gregory Tomkin (Y6) shared all about the Jewish new year Rosh Hashanah. They explained about the beliefs, events and foods associated with the festival. Of particular interest was tashlich, the prayers near running water, where sins (symbolised with breadcrumbs or stones) are symbolically cast away. Max Osman (Y8) and Nathan Istari (Y6) explained about Yom Kippur – The Day of Atonement. This is the holiest day in the Jewish religious calendar. The boys detailed symbolic ‘afflictions’ (ways of saying sorry), the role of the shofar (ram’s horn), and the origins of the festival in God’s giving of the commandments to Moses. We were very grateful that Mrs Dandeker also shared her memories of growing up in a household which belonged to an orthodox synagogue. Her recollections of her family’s observances made the festivals accessible to the boys in a very real way. I would like to thank James and Max for writing nearly all of the material for the assembly and Nathan for sourcing many of the pictures used. Thank you too to Mrs Dandeker for her important contribution and to Gregory for helping to present the assembly. Mr Waddington Head of Theology, Philosophy, Religion and Ethics Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur 2022