What is Rosh Hashanah?
Rosh Hashanah is Jewish New Year. It is the birthday of universe; the day God created Adam and Eve. Even though it is the seventh month in the Jewish calendar, people celebrate it as the beginning of the year. It is both a time of joy and a serious look at oneself. People celebrate the completion of another year. They also look back at their lives and evaluate it in regards to good and bad actions they have committed.
The Jews observe Rosh Hashana on the first two days of the Jewish New Year, Tishrei (meaning September-October) 1 and 2. It begins at sunset on Tishrei 1 and ends at sunset of Tishrei 3. In 2023, Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown on September 15 and continues through nightfall on September 17. The two days of Rosh Hashanah lead to Days of Repentance (Aseret Yemei Teshuvah), also known as the Days of Awe (Yamim Noraim). The Days of Awe end in a fast on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement (redemption of sins).
Rosh Hashanah, followed by Yom Kippur ten days later is part of the Yamim Nora’im; The High Holidays.
Meaning of Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah is the anniversary of the creation of the world. The Jewish people believe that the world will only continue to exists, if God has a ‘desire for a world’. Therefore, people pray and ask the Almighty to grant them another year of peace, prosperity and blessing. Only when people accept God as their King, will God renew his desire for a world.
For other people, Rosh Hashanah may not seem like a fun holiday. There are no wild parties, drinking or dancing. Rosh Hashanah seems rather solemn and has two layered-meaning. It is the time when people make amends for both individual, and on Yom Kippur, communal sins committed in the previous year. The Jews believe that on that day “all inhabitants of the world pass before God like a flock of sheep.” The heavenly court decides “who shall live, and who shall die … who shall be impoverished and who shall be enriched; who shall fall and who shall rise.” People have to repent for their sins before God closes the books and inscribes their fates for the coming year.
How the Jews celebrate Rosh Hashanah
The Jewish people celebrate Rosh Hashanah by blowing the shofar, prayers, special greetings, candle lighting, Tashlich, and feasts.
The Shofar
The shofar is the ram’s horn. It is blown on the first and second day of Rosh Hashanah, except when the first day is Shabbat, in which case it is blown on the second day only.
The blowing of shofar is a call for repentance. You will hear it throughout the holiday at Jewish temples. People can blow it themselves at their homes, if they are unable to leave the house due to illness. The blowing of the shofar makes people think of the trumpet blast that is sounded at a king’s coronation. The shofar itself recalls the binding of Isaac’s for a sacrifice to God, an event that occurred on Rosh Hashanah. Since a ram took Isaac’s place as an offering to God, the rabbi uses the ram’s horn to make the sound.
The first 30 blasts of the shofar are blown after reading of the Torah (the Holy Book) during morning services. Another 70 additional are blown during (and immediately after) the Musaf service (the service on Shabbat or other festivals). Finally, up to 100 blasts are sounded during the Rosh Hashanah morning services.
Prayers
People spend most of the day in a synagogue praying for a sweet New Year. They usually go to the temple in the morning, in the afternoon and at night. The morning prayer is much longer than the ones recited on other holidays, while the afternoon and evening ones are similar length. Rosh Hashanah’s Musaf prayer is longer because its middle blessing branches out into three additional blessings. The blessings focus on God’s kingship, people’s wish to ‘remember’ them for the good actions they do, and the shofar. Each blessing includes Biblical verses that express its theme, and is then followed by a round of shofar blowing.
People read the Torah on both mornings. On the first day, the story of Isaac’s birth and the subsequent banishment of Hagar and Ishmael is remembered. The reading is followed by a haftarah reading about the birth of Samuel the Prophet. On the second morning, people read about Abraham’s sacrifice of his son, Isaac, and God’s change of mind.
Special greetings:
On the first night of Rosh Hashanah, the Jews wish a man, “Leshanah tovah tikatev vetichatem;” and a woman “Leshanah tovah tikatevee vetichatemee” (“May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year”). At other times, they wish each other a “Gemar chatimah tovah” (“A good inscription and sealing [in the Book of Life]”). Those greetings basically mean: ‘May God preserve you in the New Year’, or, simply, ‘Happy New Year.’
Candle lighting:
Similarly to other Jewish holiday, women and girls light candles on each evening of Rosh Hashanah and recite the blessings. On the second night, girls use an existing flame to light candles and think about a new fruit that they will be eating (or new outfit they will be wearing) while they recite the blessing. That will ensure that the New Year will abound with blessings.
Tashlich:
On the first afternoon of Rosh Hashanah (unless it is Shabbat), people usually go to a body of water (a well, ocean, river, pond, etc., full of fish) and perform the Tashlich ceremony. During the ceremony people wash away their sins (water symbolizes kindness) as the verse, “and You shall cast your sins into the depths of the sea” prompts them. They recite a beautiful Tashlich prayer to go with it. They ask God to:
‘Give us the strength to break free–to cast aside the weaknesses and limitations which bind us and prevent us from becoming our best selves. And now, we will shake our clothes together. Our sins–our mistakes–the pain we have inflicted and the damage we have done–to ourselves and to others–are cast into the waters.’
The feast
The Jewish people eat festive meals on each day and night of Rosh Hashanah. Before each meal, people recite kiddush (a prayer) over wine and then say a blessing over bread. The traditional foods on Rosh Hashanah are:
- Challah: the round, sweet bread, which is usually sprinkled with raisins. It is dipped in honey, because people ask for a sweet year on Rosh Hashanah.
- It is customary to start the meal on the first night with slices of apples dipped in honey. Before eating people recite a blessing and say: “May it be Your will to renew for us a good and sweet year.”
- Many people eat parts of the head of a fish or a ram, wishing to ” be a head and not a tail.”
- Other traditional foods include pomegranates and tzimmes, a sweet carrot-based dish. People eat pomegranates so that their virtues are plentiful “like the [seeds of the] pomegranate.” They eat carrots to have a year of abundance.
- People avoid eating nuts and bitter foods like horseradish or vinegar, because they don’t want a bitter year.
- On the second night of the holiday, people don’t eat the apples, fish heads or pomegranates. However, before they break bread (and dip it in honey), they eat a “new fruit,” a fruit they haven’t tasted since the last time it was in season or a fruit that is completely unfamiliar to them.
Happy Rosh Hashanah, Jewish friends!