When: First of Tishrei.  In the Bible, this month is called the 7th Month or “Etanim” (I Kings 8:2).
 
What:  The beginning (literally, “head”) of the year; the Jewish New Year.  
Other names include:
 
  1. •Yom HaDin - the Day of Judgment.
  2. •Yom HaZikkaron - the Day of Remembrance (or: Remembering)
  3. •Yom Teruah - A day of sounding the Shofar.
 
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are called, collectively, the Days of Awe.  Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and the days between them are called the Ten Days of Repentance.
 
Events Associated with Rosh Hashanah:
 
  1. •The creation of the world.
  2. •The return from the Babylonian Exile.
  3. •The public reading of the Torah by Ezra the Scribe.
  4. •Birth of the Patriarchs.
  5. •Sarah conceived Isaac; Rachel conceived Joseph; Hannah conceived Samuel.
  6. •Joseph was freed from prison.
  7. •The slavery in Egypt came to an end, marking the beginning of the redemption.
 
The origins of Rosh Hashanah:  The name “Rosh Hashanah” does not appear in the Torah.  There are only two references to a holiday celebrated in the 7th month.
 
Leviticus 23:23 – “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the Israelite people thus: In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe complete rest, a sacred occasion commemorated with loud blasts.  You shall not work at your occupations; and you shall bring an offering by fire to the Lord.”
 
Numbers 29:1-2 – “In the seventh month, on the first day of the month,
you shall observe a sacred occasion: you shall not work at your occupations. You shall observe it as a day when the horn is sounded. You shall present a burnt offering of pleasing odor to the Lord.”
 
Obviously, this holiday has a long history of development.  Rabbi Reuven Hammer has written about its Biblical History and its Rabbinic History.
 
Rituals: The most important mitzvah associated with Rosh Hashanah is the sounding of the Shofar, or ram’s horn.  The significance of this ritual has been interpreted in a many different ways.
 
  1. •To awaken us from the drudgeries of everyday life and cause us to reflect upon our lives and our futures; a call to repentance.
  2. •A proclamation of God’s Divine Kingship.
  3. •To “confuse the accuser,” weakening Satan’s power to speak against Israel.
  4. •To remind God of the merits earned by the binding of Isaac and to forgive us because of those merits.
  5. •The Shofar’s bent shape is to remind us that we should bend our hearts in subservience to God.
  6. •A call to social justice.
 
Want to learn more?  Read Rabbi Reuven Hammer’s articles: “Sounding the Shofar” and “The Origins of the Shofar.”
 
Another meaningful ritual is Tashlikh.
 
Prayers: With the exception of Yom Kippur, we spend more time in synagogue than on any other day of the year.  The liturgy is among the richest of the year.  Some of the liturgical themes are:
 
  1. •The Book of Life: God judges us and decides our fate for the upcoming year.
  2. •We celebrate God’s kingship (or coronation); creation of the world; beginning of a new yearly cycle.
  3. •Accountability: We alone are responsible for what we do.
  4. •Renewal and repentance.
 
For more about these themes, read Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin’s article on “Spiritual Rehabilitation” and Rabbi Reuven Hammer’s article on “The Day of Judgment.”
 
Special foods associated with the holidays:
 
Round challah, in the shape of a crown, symbolizes the theme of God’s sovereignty.
Apples and honey - and other foods made with honey - convey the wish that the year ahead should be sweet.
 
For more about home rituals, see Rabbi Jill Jacobs’ article, “Renewing the Year at Home.”
 
Does this exhaust the subject of Rosh Hashanah and everything one needs
to know about it?  Hardly!!  If you want to learn more, a great place to start is
“My Jewish Learning.”
 
This page was assembled with the help of the students in the 2006-2007 10th Grade Confirmation Class at Tikvat Israel Congregation, Rockville, Maryland.
 
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