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Alternative Tashlich

By Aiden Pink, Jewish Life Specialist

INTRODUCTION:

Tashlich is a ritual done in the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur where Jews symbolically cast away their sins of their past year into a body of water. This is often done by taking a piece of bread, tearing off a small piece to represent each thing that you wish you had done differently over the last year, and throwing them into the water one at a time. However, sometimes people don’t have access to a body of water, or it’s raining and therefore not great to go outside, or because feeding bread to ducks is actually not that great for the ducks, or just want to do things differently. So this is an alternative program, with the benefit that it will end with a tangible visual marker that will live in the house/pod throughout the year.

MATERIALS:  

  • Water-soluble paper
  • Water-soluble markers
  • Printouts of tashlich reading (on normal paper)
  • Large bowl(s) filled with water
  • Spoon or something to stir with
  • Cup
  • Flower pot(s) with dirt inside them
  • Plant/flower seeds of your choice

Room Set Up:

  • The only must-haves are a table for the water bowl and flower pot, and writing surfaces for everyone to write on

PROGRAM OUTLINE (~40 minutes): 

  • Beginning: Explain tashlich and the procedure for the program (10 minutes)
  • Middle: Write your personal tashlich and place it in the water (20 minutes)
  • End: Plant the seeds (10 minutes)
Beginning: Explain Tashlich and the Procedure for the Program (10 minutes)
  • Explain the concept of tashlich for those who are unfamiliar (see this source and this source for more details)
  • Read (either by one volunteer or all together) the Bible quote and the poem “At the Water’s Edge” on page 1 here
  • Explain why you decided to do this alternative tashlich service rather than the traditional way (whichever explanation you give is totally valid!)
Middle: Write your personal tashlich and place it in the water (20 minutes)
  • Give each person a piece of water-soluble paper and a water-soluble marker. Each person will privately write down the mistakes of the last year that they want to cast away. During this time of quiet reflection, you might want to play music that is relaxing and/or spiritual.
  • When someone is done writing, they will place their piece of paper in the water bowl and watch the words and the paper dissolve. They may want to stir the bowl with the spoon in order to expedite the process. If some people finish early, they should just wait patiently for everyone else to conclude.
End: Plant the seeds (10 minutes)
  • Say something like: While we can’t go back in time and undo our mistakes, we can use them as fuel by which to grow into better versions of ourselves. So too with this water that is full of our sins – we can now use it to grow something beautiful.
  • Place some seeds in the flower pot, and then use the cup to take some water from the bowl and use it to water the seeds. (The water is going to look really gross, but it actually should help the plants grow better). The flowerpot will stay in the house, and over the rest of the year, people will watch it bloom, and be reminded of how they are growing just like the flowers/plants are.
    • If you want, you can have multiple flowerpots that can be also be brought to other participants’ homes.

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