Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah, a major two-day Jewish holiday now accepted as inaugurating the religious New Year on Tishri 1 (September or October). Because the New Year in Judaism ushers in a 10-day period of self-examination and penitence, Rosh Hashanah is also called the annual Day of Judgment; during this period Jews review their individual relationships with God, the Supreme Judge. A distinctive feature of the liturgy is the blowing of the ram’s horn (shofar) as prescribed in Numbers 29:1; the notes of the shofar call the Jewish people to a spiritual awakening associated with the revelation to Moses on Mount Sinai. Other traditions observed on this holiday include eating pomegranates and dipping challah bread and apples in honey in hopes of a sweet new year.

Background

The textual basis for the Rosh Hashanah holiday can be found in Leviticus 23:24–25, where God instructs Moses:

Speak to the Israelites, saying: In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of complete rest, a holy convocation commemorated with trumpet blasts. You shall not work at your occupations, and you shall present the Lord’s offering by fire.

The holiday is said to take place on the first day of the seventh month, Tishri, not the first month of the Jewish calendar, Nisan, which marks the beginning of Passover (as instructed in Exodus 12:2). The first of Nisan was considered the calendar new year and the new year for kings and for the order of festivals. Two other “new years” exist, besides Rosh Hashanah: the first of the month of Elul, which marks the new year for tithing animals, and the 15th day of Shevaṭ, which is the new year of trees, celebrated as Tu BiShvat.

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Jewish religious year: High Holy Days

The new year holiday of trumpets mentioned in Leviticus 23 is further expanded upon in Numbers 29, where it is called Yom Teruah (Day of Blowing Trumpets), referring to the blowing of the shofar. It was not until the 2nd century ce when scholars compiling the Mishna—the codification of Jewish oral law—designated Rosh Hashanah (literally “head of the year”) on the first of Tishri as the new year of years and deemed it to commemorate the beginning of God’s creation. It is for this reason that the holiday is also considered a Day of Remembrance (Yom Ha-Zikaron)—now a separate holiday in Israel observed the day prior to Israel’s Independence Day—and Jews on this date commemorate the creation of the universe. It is also thought of as the Day of Judgment (Yom Ha-Din). The Mishna further outlines many of the meanings and observances of this holiday.

Start of the High Holy Days

Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the holiest time of the Jewish year, known as the High Holy Days, or the Ten Days of Repentance (ʿAseret Yemei Teshuvah) or the Days of Awe (Yamim Noraʾim), which conclude on the 10th day of Tishri, Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement. This is a significant time of repentance for sins. It is said that on Rosh Hashanah, God opens the books of life and death. The righteous are inscribed in the book of life, and the unrighteous in the book of death. For those whose past actions are not immediately determinative of their fate when the divine books are opened on Rosh Hashanah, the outcome can be impacted by actions and prayers of repentance during the High Holy Days. On Yom Kippur judgments are finalized, and the books are sealed.

A commonly recited prayer entitled Unetaneh Toqef, which is attributed to Rabbi Amnon of Mainz in Europe in the 11th or 12th century ce—but possibly centuries older—relates, “On Rosh Hashanah it is inscribed, and on Yom Kippur it is sealed; how many shall pass away and how many shall be born, who shall live and who shall die…”

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On Rosh Hashanah, common greetings include shanah tovah u-metuqah (“a good and sweet new year”), which is often shortened to shanah tovah (“a good year”). A common phrase heard during this holiday period, particularly on Yom Kippur, is le-shanah tovah tikateivu (“may you be inscribed for a good year in the book of life”). The phrase chag sameach (“happy holiday”) and the Yiddish version thereof, gut yontif (“good holiday”), are also common greetings.

Practices

The synagogue service for Rosh Hashanah emphasizes prayer and God’s majesty. A special prayer book called the mahzor (“cycle”) provides the liturgy for the Ten Days of Repentance, from Rosh Hashanah through Yom Kippur. In addition, special melodies reserved for these holidays are used during prayers. At the Rosh Hashanah service, the Amidah prayers (done while standing and recited silently or in a whisper) include special piyyutim (religious poems). The prayer Avinu Malkenu (“Our Father, Our King”), which combines praise for God with entreaties for a good year and requests for sins to be forgiven, is another staple of High Holiday services. The Torah portions read during the two-day holiday are Genesis 21 (on the first day) and Genesis 22 (on the second day)—the birth and binding of Isaac, respectively. The Hafṭarah selections read on these days are 1 Samuel 1:1–2:10 (the birth of Samuel) and, on the second day, Jeremiah 31:1–20 (the Jews’ return to Palestine after the Babylonian Exile). These readings emphasize the themes of God remembering the Israelites and keeping divine promises.

Perhaps the most notable practice of Rosh Hashanah is the blowing of the shofar. The shofar is traditionally blown after the reading of the three sets of prayers that form the musaf service, added to the usual morning service in the synagogue. Of particular significance is the blowing of the shofar after the reading of the Akedah, the binding of Isaac in Genesis 22. It is said that over the course of the holiday 100 blows of the shofar should be heard. There are four types of notes on the shofar: tekiah (a single long blast), tekiah gedolah (a longer version of tekiah), shevarim (three shorter notes), and teruah (at least nine staccato notes). The different branches of Judaism include some minor variations in the timings of blowing the shofar. In particular, the Reform Judaism movement abandoned the musaf service because that portion’s concern with rituals in the ancient Temple of Jerusalem did not accord with the movement’s embrace of life in the Diaspora and its elimination of vestiges of Temple sacrifice. Yet Reform congregations still perform the shofar blasts and the ʿAleinu prayer that traditionally belong to musaf.

Tradition dictates that delicacies be prepared for Rosh Hashanah as omens of good luck in the new year. Challah bread and fruit—often apples—are dipped in honey and eaten after a special blessing for a sweet new year is recited. Challah on Rosh Hashanah is made round, rather than the usual oval shape. Pomegranates are often eaten, and they are said to have 613 seeds symbolizing the 613 commandments (mitzvot) in the Torah. Fish are also often on the menu for Rosh Hashanah, sometimes specifically a fish’s head, a practice that refers to a prayer based on Deuteronomy 28:13: “The Lord will make you the head and not the tail.” Some Jews avoid eating nuts for this holiday because of an interpretation in gematria—an ancient Jewish numerological system—that associates nuts with sin.

Another practice during Rosh Hashanah is tashlik, during which Jews observing the holiday toss bread crumbs into a body of water. The ritual, typically performed on the afternoon of the first day of the holiday, symbolizes the spiritual casting off of sins as a part of this holiday of atonement and renewal. There is internal debate within Jewish tradition about whether actual crumbs should be cast into the water, or if the sins should be metaphysically cast off without a physical representation. There is also debate about whether the body of water should contain fish. The practice stems from and includes the recitation of Micah 7:19, “You will cast [tashlik] all their sins into the depths of the sea.”