The Jewish community this year celebrates the holiday of Rosh Hashanah, the New Year according to the Jewish calendar, which begins on Friday, September 11, at sunset, and lasts until Sunday, September 13. This year marks the beginning of the year 5787 in the Hebrew calendar.
What is Rosh Hashanah?
Rosh Hashanah (literally “head of the year”) is one of the holiest holidays in Judaism. According to tradition, it commemorates the day of the creation of the world and man, and it is also a day of spiritual judgment - a time when, according to belief, the course of the coming year is decided. The holiday marks the beginning of the “Ten Days of Repentance,” a period of prayer, repentance, and reflection on relationships with others, which ends with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
Symbols and their meanings:
- Shofar - a horn, usually made from a ram's horn, specially prepared as a wind instrument, which has been used for ritual purposes by Jews since ancient times. Blowing the shofar symbolizes a call to awaken the spirit, a reminder that it is time for repentance and inner change.
- Honey and apple - one of the most well-known customs is dipping a slice of apple in honey, with a wish for a sweet and good year. The same symbolic meaning is carried by bread (challah) dipped in honey.
- Round challah - bread that is usually made in an elongated, braided shape, is baked round for Rosh Hashanah, symbolizing the circle of life and the desire for a complete, harmonious year.
- Pomegranate - according to tradition, it has 613 seeds, the same number as the commandments (mitzvot) in the Torah, symbolizing an abundance of good deeds.
- Tzedakah (giving charity) - helping others as an expression of solidarity, responsibility, and care for the community.
- Tashlich - a traditional custom on Rosh Hashanah, during which prayers are recited at the edge of the water and sins are symbolically “cast away” as an expression of repentance and a desire for a new beginning.
What is eaten for Rosh Hashanah:
The table for Rosh Hashanah is full of symbolism, almost every dish carries a message of wishing for a good year:
- Apple in honey - for a sweet year
- Round challah, often with raisins - for sweetness and continuity
- Pomegranate - for abundance and good deeds
- Fish (usually the head of a fish or lamb) - symbolizes the wish for the coming year to be “at the head, not at the tail,” meaning to be successful.
- Carrots, cut into rounds - remind of coins and symbolize prosperity
- Sour and bitter fruits and dishes are avoided, so that bitterness is not “brought into” the new year
About the celebration:
The holiday is celebrated by going to the synagogue for festive services, family gatherings, and festive dinners. The usual greeting is “Shana Tova” (good year) or “Shana Tova Umetuka” (good and sweet year) and “Leshana tova tikatevu” (May you be inscribed for a good year), which are greetings sent to the Jewish community around the world for the holiday.