A Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur Briefing

The High Holy Days are an annual reminder to review our lives and deeds, and to resolve that we will improve in the coming years.

On the Sabbath night preceding Rosh Hashanah, the members in many congregations gather at midnight to recite penitential prayers called selichot, "forgiveness," in anticipation of the High Holy Days.

Rosh Hashanah is the anniversary of the day the world was created, and the day on which, annually, the world is judged.

On this holy day, a ram's horn is traditionally sounded to remind people of the story of Abraham and Isaac. The vibrations of the shofar urge Jews to take actions towards their transgressions during the previous Jewish year. The mood is meant to be reflective, not mournful: we are supposed to wear fine clothes and enjoy good meals as part of our observance of the day. Before finishing the fast, it is traditional for Jews to dip ahallah or apple in honey and wish for a good and sweet year.

On the afternoon of the first day of Rosh Hashanah, traditional Jews walk to a river or spring and recite prayers called tashlich, express the hope that God will cast off our sins. On the second evening of Rosh Hashanah, it is customary to eat a new fruit, or some food not yet tasted that season.

The days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are called the Ten Days of Repentance. The Fast of Gedaliah occurs on the day after Rosh Hashanah. It marks the death of the last Jewish governor of Jerusalem and the disintegration of the Judean nation after the destruction of the Temple. The Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is called Shabbat Shuvah, "the Sabbath of return." The final meal before Yom Kippur is considered a mitzvah, since its purpose is to give the diners strength to fast the entire next day. Memorial candles, as well as candles for the holiday, are blessed and lit.

For the evening Yom Kippur service, the ark and reading tables in the synagogue are robed in white. The service begins with the famous paragraphs of Kol Nidre, annulling all vows made to God in the past and coming year. The Al Het confession is repeated several times during the holiday. Each line expresses the sense of communal responsibility Jews are commanded to feel for one another.

Yom Kippur day is filled with intense prayer. We strive to reconcile ourselves with God and His ways. The Rabbis decreed abstinence from eating, drinking, wearing leather shoes, washing or anointing the body, and sexual cohabitation. The purpose of these restrictions is to help us abandon our daily physical concerns and bodily passions in order to concentrate on the intellectual, spiritual, and moral aspects of our being.

Although the Yizkor, or memorial, service is said during Yom Kippur, on the whole the emphasis of the day is on the deeds of the living. The readings of the prophets exhort Jews to perform good deeds. The reading of the book of Jonah in the afternoon reminds Jews of God's all-encompassing mercy.

The last service of the day is called Neilah, "closing." The prayers describe the closing of the gates of Heaven, the adding up of the ledgers in which deeds are recorded, the making of the final judgment. The shofar is sounded one long, last time, and the day is done. A new year lies before us.