Israelis are in a festive mood to celebrate Rosh Hashanah 5785 a Jewish New Year.
Rosh Hashanah means “Head of the Year” is the New Year in Judaism. The biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah is a day of celebration as well as reflection about the previous year falls on the first and second day of the Hebrew month Tishri.
In the Gregorian calendar, in 2024 Rosh Hashanah begins at sunset on Wednesday, October 2 and will run through nightfall on Friday October 4.
The festival Rosh Hashanah, also a public holiday and the beginning of the calendar, is celebrated as the Jewish New Year among Jewish communities worldwide during September or early October. It starts 163 days after the first day of Passover.
According to the tradition, Rosh Hashanah is celebrated by doing four things– eat ritual food, hear the ancient musical instrument Shofar (made from a ram’s horn), go to Synagogue and take stock.
Rosh Hashanah is the only Jewish holiday that begins on the first of the month, so even in Israel Jews could not wait until the confirmed appearance of the new moon to get word that the holiday had begun. Therefore, the tradition was established of observing Rosh Hashanah for two days.
Rosh Hashanah is celebrated with candle lighting in the evenings, festive meals with sweet delicacies during the night and day, prayer services that include the sounding of the ram’s horn (shofar) on both mornings, and desisting from creative work.
Visiting Jerusalem during Rosh Hashanah is a very spiritual and meaningful experience. Visitors in Israel during the Rosh Hashanah holiday could experience the holiday by visiting the Western Wall to hear the prayers. Jewish people attend special holiday services at synagogue and recite special prayers and liturgical songs written over the centuries. It is said that these vary between Jews who have developed different prayers based on where they were living for hundreds of years.
The blowing of the shofar (ram’s horn) is an iconic symbol of Rosh Hashanah. In the Jewish tradition, 100 (or 101) shofar blasts are sounded in the synagogue to symbolize God’s sovereignty over the world and remind Jews of the giving of the commandments on Mt. Sinai and of Abraham and Isaac’s devotion to God.
They arouse people to repentance and to herald the Day of Judgment and the coming of the Messiah.
Other symbols of Rosh Hashanah in Israel include apples and honey. They are customarily eaten along with other sweet foods to symbolize a sweet new year. During Rosh Hashanah, eating the round shape of the bread is symbolic of the circle of life and the yearly cycle. Along with other sweet baked goods, one of the most popular treats for Rosh Hashanah is honey cake.
Tashlich is a Rosh Hashanah custom in the afternoon where Jews walk to a river or another flowing body of water where people shake out their pockets and symbolically cast their sins into the water.
Shana Tova!!!
