5. Jews Don’t Actually wish Others a “Happy New Year”
The traditional greeting that Jews share on Rosh Hashanah is “l’shana tovah,” and while many greeting cards might falsely translate this term to mean “happy new year” it actually has a slightly different meaning. In truth it “conveys the hope for a good year rather than a happy one,” according to Rabbi Benjamin Blech. So what’s the difference? The belief is that to be happy is to have fun, and to give the self what it desires, no matter how selfish that act may be. On there flip side, “we are good when we achieve our purpose; our lives are good when they fulfill what they are meant to be.”
