What is Rosh Hashanah?

With Rosh Hashanah coming up on the 18^th of the month, it seems like many people don't really understand the holiday. Even the more secular Jews go through the motions of Rosh Hashanah without reflecting on its historical and religious foundations.

What is Rosh Hashanah Anyways?
As the first high holiday of the Jewish calendar, Rosh Hashanah is one of the most important Jewish holidays. So what is it? In simple terms, it is the observance of the new year (this year is 5770). It is a day of celebration when one eats sweet foods in hopes for a sweet year. It is a day when the shofar (a kind of trumpet made from a ram's horn) is blown to awaken us from our religious slumbers. It is a day when we cast off our sins from the year before and pray that the new year will be better. Rosh Hashanah is a relatively simple holiday, but its importance is undeniable.

What's Special about Rosh Hashanah?
Besides being the start of the new year, Rosh Hashanah is a time for celebration and contemplation. Here is a list of widely practiced rituals on Rosh Hashanah:

Lighting candles

Usually a duty of girls and women in the household, lighting candles is a way to usher in the new year. Prayers are said in association with the ritual lighting to thank God for giving us the commandments and for keeping us alive and well.

New year greetings

On the first night of Rosh Hashanah, Jews wish each other a new year by saying L'shana tova (pronounced "le-shah-NAH tow-VAH), which means "for a good year." The word tov means "good" in Hebrew while shana equates to "year" (hence the name of the holiday). If you have any Jewish friends, be sure to wish them a good year!

Eating

No Jewish holiday is ever complete without food. On Rosh Hashanah Jews usually eat apples and honey to symbolize a couple different things: First, the fruit and honey symbolizes the new year's sweetness. Challah (a special bread eaten every Friday night during the Shabbat meal) is also dipped in the honey for the same reason. Second, apples are a symbol of the new season. They are literally the first fruit in the new year as they grow during the beginning of autumn. Again, the symbolic notion of eating something new reflects the ushering in of the New year.

Other foods are typically eaten as well. Carrots, for example, are often used to make a sweet stew called tzimmes ("SIM-mis"). This is because the Yiddish word for carrots, meren, means "to multiply." Pomegranates are also eaten. Not only are these fruits sweet, but also their numerous seeds are meant to represent the many mitzvot ("mits-VOTE"), or good deeds, the new year will bring.

Blowing the shofar ("show-FAR")

The shofar is typically a ram's horn with the marrow removed. It is blown like a trumpet during services and makes a low, resonating sound. It is blown on Rosh Hashanah as a wake-up call meant to remind us of our devotion to God and recommit ourselves to following His word. There are three kinds of sounds we make with the shofar: Tekiah ("teh-KEY-ah") is a long, uninterrupted blast from the horn. Shevarim ("sheh-VAR-eem") consists of three different blasts from the horn. Teruah ("te-RUE-ah") is a series of at least nine short blasts.

Tashlich ("TAHSH-lick")

Tashlich is another one of the many ceremonial rituals observed during Rosh Hashanah. During Tashlich, Jews go to a river or lake (a body of water with fish) typically carrying little pieces of bread. After praying, we throw the pieces of bread into the water to symbolize the casting off of our sins from the previous year. In this way, we hope to enter the new year free from the sins of our past. It is a ceremony of mixed emotions-while you are contemplating all of the bad things you did the previous year, you are simultaneously letting go of them and thinking about the future.

Is that it?
Yep, that's it. Rosh Hashanah is the celebration of the Jewish New Year. No fancy balls crashing in Times Square, no fireworks and party hats, no midnight parades, just a couple simple rituals practiced annually to remind us who we are, where we came from, and how special life is. If you're interested in learning more about the prayers, customs, or anything else concerning Jewish holidays, click here. L'shana tova everyone!