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Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah Rosh Hashanah heads the year of Jewish festivals and traditions. Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year and is usually celebrated for two days in September or October, depending on when it falls in the Hebrew calendar. Rosh Hashanah celebrates the creation of the world and is a time for reflection and self evaluation. It is celebrated on the first day of the seventh month (the month of Tishri). Rosh Hashanah is celebrated by Orthodox Jews everywhere and is one of the Jewish tradition’s holiest days. Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year but, in contrast with the New Year of other peoples, it is greeted not with noise and joy, but with a serious and repentant heart. Rosh Hashanah is known by many names and descriptions. The name Rosh Hashanah means the “head” or “beginning of the year.” Another name for Rosh Hashanah is Yom Teruah, the day of the Blowing of the Shofar. The other way of referring to Rosh Hashanah is Yom Hazikaron the Day of Remembering. Finally, Rosh Hashanah is known as Yom Hadin, the Day of Judgment. Each of these names has different meanings, but they all refer to the Unlike other Jewish holidays, Rosh Hashanah is one of very few Jewish festivals and has neither an agricultural nor historical basis. In fact, the Jewish New Year is not at all limited to the Jewish experience because it celebrates the birthday of the world. according to Jewish tradition, all peoples and nations are judged on Rosh Hashanah, not just Jews. Each person’s fate is determined during the Yamim Noraim. the The custom during the New Year is to only serve sweet foods. The idea behind this is the desire for the sweetness to last throughout the year. Popular treats include apples and honey, hallah bread, and honey cake or cookies Before the Rosh Hashanah meal, it is a custom to place sliced apples and a dish of honey on the dinner table. After they light the candles and say kuddish, each person at the table dips a slice of apple into the honey. Then a blessing is recited over the fruit. A pomegranate is said to has 613 seed. This number corresponds to the number of mitzvoth, or types of good deeds, that Jews as a society must perform. A pomegranate on the holiday table announces to the heavenly court that as many seeds as there are, that’s how many good deeds have been performed over the Hallah bread is commonly served on Rosh Hashanah. A ladder, turban like shape, to the Hallah bread expresses the wish that the family’s prayers might ascend to heaven. Dough baked in the shape of a bird also represents the same wish. It also stands for the words of the prophet Isaiah: As birds protect their young, Some time between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, it is customary to throw bread crumbs into a body of water as a symbolic act of repentance. Most Jews do tashlich the afternoon of the first day of Rosh Hashanah. Family and friends gather together at the waterfront to “cast away” the sins of the past year and resolve to be better in the year to come. Tashlich is a way to admit our own faults and symbolically shed the baggage if In the villages of Eastern Europe it was custom before the New Year for a messenger to go from house to house with a sack. Those who could afford it put coins in the sack; those who were poor took coins from the sack. No one knew who gave and who took. Giving tzedakah, sharing what we have with those in need, is an important mitzvah in Jewish life. In modern days, tzedakah is performed by some Jewish communal agencies who make sure that all Jews can afford to attend services and get a good meal. The Shofar is an animal horn blown like a trumpet. It is usually a ram’s horn, but a Shofar can be made from any kosher animal except a cow. Today the use of a long antelope horn is popular. Unlike a trumpet, the Shofar has no mouthpiece. It is very difficult to blow. Shofar blowers spend many hours practicing before Rosh Hashanah. The Shofar blowers are people who are admired in a community. The Shofar blower is called the ba’ al tekiah. Another person stands next to the ba’ al tekiah There are three kinds of notes. The tekiah is a single blast. The shevarim is a series of three blasts. The teruah is a set of ten blasts. During the Shofar service the ba’ al tekiah blows three notes in different combinations as they are called out. At the end of the Shofar service, a very long tekiah, the There are many reasons why the Shofar is blown on Rosh Hashanah. According to the Maimondies, the great Jewish scholar, the Shofar is blown on Rosh Hashanah to say, “Wake up! Wake up everyone who is asleep! Remember God, your creator! Instead of Instead of doing things that are not worthwhile, take some time to think about what you can do to make yourself into a better person. Give up doing bad things!” According to Rabbi Saadia Gaon, some reasons the Shofar is blown are: that Rosh Hashanah is the world’s birthday, that the Shofar reminds us of the ram that Abraham sacrificed in the palace of his son Isaac, that when God gave us the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai, the Israelites heard the sound of a Shofar, and the Shofar is the call of The Silent Prayer, Amidah, is proclaimed on Rosh Hashanah. Amidah has three essential components: Kingship Memories, Judgment, and Shofar. There are ten verses for each component - three each from Torah, Prophets and writings, plus one additional On Rosh Hashanah, some stories are recited. These stories remind Jews of God being forgiving and able to redeem people from their sins. It also shows God as loving and all knowing. Some stories recited were: “Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar” (Genesis 21), “The Binding of Isaac” (Genesis 22), The Book of Days (by Stephen M. Wylen), and If Not Higher (by I.L. Peretz). Rosh Hashanah is a holiday that is unique from all other holidays. It has specific tritons that make it unique. Though it was celebrated in the Bible, Rosh Hashanah’s customs were never clearly stated. The traditions of Rosh Hashanah has evolved into the celebration it is today. Rosh Hashanah reminds Jews of their Before I wrote this report I never knew what Rosh Hashanah was. I knew it was the Jewish New Year, but I had no idea it had so many traditions and laws. From writing this report I have learned about a holiday I have always been curious about. It gave me the opportunity to search for the deeper meaning of the holy day and it helped me see the celebration as a serious and respectful event. I always thought that celebrating a New Year was about watching Dick Clark on television and seeing the ball fall in Times Square, but now I realize that New Years is somewhat a religious holiday in the sense of the birthday of the Bibliography: Mastrangelo 6 Work Cited Chaiken, Miriam. “Rosh Hashanah Traditions.” www.joi.org/edutain/rosh/pomeg.htm: Yahoo, 1997. Chaiken, Miriam. “Rosh Hashanah Traditions.” www.joi.org/edutain/rosh/hallah.htm: Yahoo, 1997. Fellner, Judith B. In the Jewish Tradition: A Year of Food and Festivals. New York: Michael Friedman Publishing Group, 1995. Raphael, Chaim. Festival Days: A History of Jewish Celebrations. New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1990. Saypol, Judyth Robbins. “Rosh Hashanah Traditions.” www.joi.org/edutain/rosh/tzedakah.htm: Yahoo, 1997. Saypol, Judyth Robbins. “Rosh Hashanah Traditions.” www.joi.org/edutain/rosh/whatis.htm: Yahoo, 1997. Schauss, Hayyim. The Jewish Festivals: History and Observance. New York: Schocken Books Incorporated, 1938. Wylen, Stephen M. “Rosh Hashanah Traditions.” www.joi.org/edutain/rosh/food.htm: Yahoo, 1997. Wylen, Stephen M. “Rosh Hashanah Traditions.” www.joi.org/edutain/rosh/apples.htm: Yahoo, 1997. Wylen, Stephen M. “Rosh Hashanah Traditions.” www.joi.org/edutain/rosh/tashlic.htm: Yahoo, 1997. Wylen, Stephen M. “Rosh Hashanah Traditions.” www.joi.org/edutain/rosh/shofar.htm: Yahoo, 1997.

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