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• Rosh Hashanah The Jewish New Year

Rosh Hashanah: The Jewish New Year

written on October 14, 2011 by Tameka Taylor

In the fall of each year, there are several Jewish Holidays that occur.  I will focus on a series of articles highlighting each of these holidays in my next few writings.  Rosh Hashanah is the holiday which starts off the Jewish New Year and according to Jewish tradition is the anniversary of the creation of the world.  The phrase Rosh Hashanah means “head of the year.”  It occurs on the first and second days of the Hebrew month of Tishrei, which usually fall on the secular calendar in September or October.  The Jewish New Year is a celebratory holiday that also contains some deeper spiritual meanings.

Jewish traditions teach that this is the Day of Judgment as well.  It is said that on Rosh Hashanah, that God decides the fate of everyone for the upcoming year either in the Book of Life or the Book of Death.  The final verdict is not until the next holiday of Yom Kippur (will be the focus of the next article).  The Ten Days of Awe is when Jews reflect upon their actions over the past year and seek forgiveness for their transgressions while hoping to influence God’s final judgment begins on Rosh Hashanah. 

The Hebrew word, “chet” means “sin” and it comes from an old archery term used when an archer “misses the mark.”   This is seen as the context for how most Jewish people view sin.  It is believed that all people are basically good and sin is a result of people mistakes or “missing the mark” since everyone is imperfect.  An important part of Rosh Hashanah is making amends for these sins and seeking forgiveness.

The Hebrew term “Teshuvah” means “returning.”  Teshuvah is the process that Jewish people atone on Rosh Hashanah as well as during the Ten Days of Awe.  During this time Jews are to seek forgiveness from the people they have done wrong within the last year prior to seeking forgiveness from God.  True repentance is a multiple step process called Teshuvah.  The first step is acknowledging that you have made a mistake and having a genuine desire to want to do better.  Then they must try to sincerely make amends for their actions in a meaningful way.  Making the final step of this process is a demonstration that they have learned from this mistake by not doing it again.  Once seeing that the person is sincere, then it is the responsibility of the other Jews to forgive them.

The shofar, usually a hollowed out ram’s horn, is blown like a trumpet on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.  The sounding of the shofar doesn’t happen when the holiday falls on a Shabbat.  On Rosh Hashanah there are several different shofar calls.  One long blast is the tekiah.  While nine short blasts are called the teruah, and three blasts are called the shevarim.  Finally, a single long blast, longer than the plain tekiah is the tekiah gedolah.  

While there are many Rosh Hashanah food traditions, the most common one is the dipping of apples into honey.  The meaning behind this tradition is wishing people a sweet new year.  A festive meal that is shared with family and friends is an essential part of the Rosh Hashanah holiday.  A round loaf of challah is served and dipped in honey.  Challah can be described as being egg bread that can be slightly sweet.  This symbolizes the cycle of time and is served with a special prayer for a sweet new year.  Additional food traditions vary from region to region and from family to family.

Here’s wishing all of my Jewish friends and colleagues, "L'Shana Tova," which means "For a Good Year."

Main source for this information came from  About.com