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Rosh Hashana - The Jewish New Year
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Rosh Hashanah (The New Year) is around the corner (this year, it starts on the evening of September 12, 2007). It will be the begining of the 5768 year since creation.
The Bible refers to the holiday as Yom Ha-Zikkaron (the day of remembrance) or Yom Teruah (the day of the sounding of the shofar). The holiday is instituted in Leviticus 23:24-25.
What gifts and items are symbolic for Rosh HaShana? (see our recommendations below):
- The Shofar (Ram's horn): "on the first of the month, there shall be a sabbath for you, a remembrance with shofar blasts, a holy convocation." - Leviticus 16:24. It is a custom for Jews to sound the Shofar 100 times on Rosh Hashanah. These hundred sounds are considered symbolic of the one hundred and one letters contained in the lament of Sisera's mother as she awaited her son's return from the battlefield as recorded in the Song of Devorah - Judges, 4.
- Apples and Honey: A popular observance during Rosh HaShana holiday is eating apples dipped in honey, a symbol of our wish for a sweet new year. After dipping a sweet apple into honey, the blessing over fruit is recited plus the additional prayer, "May it be Your will to renew for us a good and sweet year."
- Pomergranate: One takes a piece of this fruit and says, "May it be Your will that our merits be numerous as (the seeds of) the pomegranate." Why Pomergranate? There are 613 commandments in the Torah for a Jew to fulfill. An individual pomegranate supposedly has 613 seeds. By eating the pomegranate, we figuratively show our desire and hope to fulfill all 613 commandments, and by doing so, we will be able to accrue a nice amount of merit.
- New Year Greetings / Blessings: On the first night of Rosh Hashana (some send cards in advance), there is a custom that people exchange the following greeting: "May you be inscribed and sealed immediately for a good life." In some Sephardic communities, the greeting is, "May you be inscribed for a good year; may you be worthy of abundant years."
- Holy day meal: As on Shabbat, we sanctify the holy day of Rosh Hashanah with a festive meal, however, on Rosh HaShana we dip the Challah with honey (a Challah is a special enriched bread, often braided and sweet, used for holy days and Shabbat).
- Candle Lighting: Women and girls light candles on each evening of the Rosh Hashanah and recite the appropriate blessings.
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