Rosh Hashanah: What You Should Know About the Jewish New Year
It’s one of the most important Jewish holidays.
SEPTEMBER 3, 2021.
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/rosh-hashanah-what-to-know
As autumn approaches, so does Rosh Hashanah, also known as the Jewish New Year, or Feast of Trumpets. Rosh Hashanah marks the start of the first month of the Hebrew year and the 10-day period known as the Yamim Noraim, or Days of Awe, that lead up to Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year.
Whether you are observing the holiday, planning to celebrate with a friend, or just learning more about Jewish culture, here are five things you should know about Rosh Hashanah.
1. It’s the “head of the year.”
Rosh Hashanah is Hebrew for “head of the year,” and it is the celebration of the Jewish New Year. It is observed at the start of the month of Tishrei, which is the first month of the Hebrew year. The Hebrew calendar is lunisolar, meaning it is determined by the positions of both the sun and moon. Lunisolar years can range from 353 to 385 days, which is why Rosh Hashanah falls on a different Gregorian calendar day each year.
Jews take the phrase “head of the year” pretty literally. It is customary to serve the heads of fish as part of a Rosh Hashanah meal. Additionally, as the Los Angeles Times notes, many observers recite the phrase “May we be heads, not tails” — or leaders, not followers. This references the blessing “And the Lord will set you at the head, and not at the tail,” from Parshah Ki Tavo in Devarim, the fifth book of the Torah.
2. It gets loud.
The holiday is more commonly referred to as Rosh Hashanah, but the Biblical name for the Jewish New Year is Yom Teruah, translating roughly to “day of a massive shout.” During a traditional Rosh Hashanah service, a shofar — an ancient musical instrument usually made from a ram’s horn — is blown 100 times. It’s important that the shofar is fashioned from the horn of a kosher animal, meaning an animal that the Israelites were allowed to eat in accordance with the Torah passages Parashat Shmini and Parashat Re’eh. The blower of the shofar takes a deep breath, representing our inward reflection at the end of the year; then they blow air out of the horn, producing a loud noise that represents our ability to burst into the new year and make the world a better place.
3. Greet your Jewish friends and loved ones with “Shanah tovah.”
The traditional greeting during Rosh Hashanah is the phrase “Shanah tovah,” which translates to “Good year.” The typical response or addition to that greeting is “U’metuka,” meaning “and sweet.” Another versatile greeting that applies to Rosh Hashanah, and most other Jewish holidays, is “Chag sameach,” meaning “Happy festival.”
If noon has passed on Rosh Hashanah, it is appropriate to wish someone “G’mar chatimah tovah,” or “A good final sealing.” This refers to the sealing of our fates in the Book of Life for the coming year, according to the prayer Unetaneh Tokef. Jewish tradition states that names are written into the Book of Life on Rosh Hashanah and that fate — whether we will survive through the next year — is sealed on Yom Kippur.
4. You’ve got to try apples and honey!
It’s the perfect combination. One of my favorite Rosh Hashanah traditions is dipping apples in honey, symbolizing our vision of a sweet new year. According to the Torah, while the Israelites wandered through the desert for 40 years, G-d* provided them with manna, a substance described as being “like honey wafers.” We honor this gift from G-d by specifically eating honey instead of other sweeteners because it’s as old as written history.
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Some other symbolic foods include round challah loaves, which represent the circle of life, and pomegranates, believed to each contain 613 seeds in correspondence with the Torah’s 613 commandments.
5. Tashlich is an important ritual.
It is customary in Ashkenazi and Sephardic communities to commemorate the self-sacrifice of Abraham by performing tashlich at a body of water on the first day of Rosh Hashanah. This could be anything from a sea to a pond, but it’s best when the body of water contains fish. In this ritual, we symbolically cast away our sins by throwing pieces of bread (or other alternatives) in the water and reading select passages, Psalms, and a kabbalistic prayer. This serves as a moment of self-reflection.
An English version of the Tashlich prayer can be found here.
