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What Is Rosh Hashanah?
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The anniversary of the creation of Adam and
Eve, a day of judgment and coronation, the sounding of the
shofar . . .
What: It is the birthday of the universe,
the day G‑d created Adam and Eve, and it’s celebrated as the head of
the Jewish year.
When: The first two days of the Jewish
year, Tishrei 1 and 2, beginning at sundown on the eve of Tishrei.
How: Candle lighting in the
evenings, festive meals with sweet delicacies during the night and
day, prayer services that include the sounding of the ram’s horn (shofar) on
both mornings, and desisting from creative work.
Why Rosh Hashanah Is Important
Rosh Hashanah means
“Head of the Year.” Just like the head controls the body, our actions on Rosh
Hashanah have a tremendous impact on the rest of the year.
As we read in the Rosh Hashanah prayers, each year on this
day “all inhabitants of the world pass
before G‑d like a flock of sheep,” and it is decreed in the heavenly court “who shall live, and who shall die ... who
shall be impoverished and who shall be enriched; who shall fall and who shall
rise.”
It is a day of prayer,
a time to ask the Almighty to grant us a year of peace, prosperity and
blessing. But it is also a joyous day when we proclaim G‑d King of the
Universe.
The Kabbalists teach
that the continued existence of the universe depends on G‑d’s desire for a
world, a desire that is renewed when we accept His kingship anew each year on
Rosh Hashanah.
What’s It Called?
● The most common name
for this holiday is Rosh Hashanah, the name used in the eponymous tractate
of Talmud devoted to the holiday.
●
The Torah refers to this day as Yom Teruah (Day of Shofar
Blowing).
● In our prayers, we
often call it Yom Hazikaron (Day of Remembrance) and Yom Hadin (Day of
Judgement) since this is the day when G‑d recalls all of His creations and
determines their fate for the year ahead.
First Priority: Hear
the Shofar
The central
observance of Rosh Hashanah is the sounding of the shofar, the ram’s horn,
on both mornings of the holiday (except if the first day is Shabbat, in which
case we blow the shofar only on the second day).
The first 30 blasts
of the shofar are blown following the Torah reading during morning
services, and as many as 70 are then blown during (and immediately after)
the Musaf service.
Many communities
listen to 100 blasts over the course of the Rosh Hashanah morning
services. For someone who cannot come to synagogue, the shofar may be
blown the rest of the day.
If you cannot make it
out, please contact your closest Chabad center to see about arranging a
“house call.”
The shofar blowing
contains a series of three types of blasts: tekiah, a long sob-like
blast; shevarim, a series of three short wails; and teruah, at least
nine piercing staccato bursts.
The blowing of
the shofar represents the trumpet blast that is sounded at a king’s
coronation. Its plaintive cry also serves as a call to repentance.
The shofar itself recalls
the Binding of Isaac, an event that occurred on Rosh Hashanah in which a ram
took Isaac’s place as an offering to G‑d.
Other Rosh Hashanah
Observances
Greetings: When you meet a fellow Jew on the first night of Rosh
Hashanah, wish him, “Leshana tovah
tikatev v’tichatem” or, for a female,“ Leshana tovah tikatevee v’tichatemee” (“May you be inscribed
and sealed for a good year”).
Afterward, wish them a “G’mar
chatimah tovah” (“A good inscription and sealing [in the Book of Life]”).
Candles: As with every major Jewish holiday,
women and girls light candles on each evening of Rosh Hashanah and recite the
appropriate blessings.
On the second night,
make sure to use an existing flame and think about a new fruit that you will be
eating (or garment that you are wearing) while you say the
Shehechiyanu blessing.
Tashlich: On the first afternoon of Rosh
Hashanah (provided that it is not Shabbat), it is customary to go to a body of
water (ocean, river, pond, etc.) and perform the Tashlich ceremony, in which we
ceremonially cast our sins into the water.
With this tradition
we are symbolically evoking the verse, “And
You shall cast their sins into the depths of the sea.”
The short prayer for
this service can be found in your machzor.
Rosh Hashanah Prayers
Much of the day is
spent in synagogues.
The evening and
afternoon prayers are similar to the prayers said on a regular holiday.
However, the morning services are significantly longer.
The holiday
prayerbook — called a machzor — contains all the prayers and Torah
readings for the entire day.
The most significant
addition is the shofar blowing ceremony.
However, there are
also other important elements of the prayer service that are unique to Rosh
Hashanah.
The Torah is read on
both mornings of Rosh Hashanah.
On the first day, we
read about Isaac’s birth and the subsequent banishment of Hagar and Ishmael.
Appropriately, the
reading is followed by a haftarah reading about the birth
of Samuel the Prophet.
Both readings contain
the theme of prayers for children being answered, and both of these births took
place on Rosh Hashanah.
On the second
morning, we read about Abraham’s near-sacrifice of his son Isaac.
As mentioned above,
the shofar blowing recalls the ram, which figures prominently in this
story as a powerful display of Abraham’s devotion to G‑d that has characterized
His children ever since.
The haftarah tells
of G‑d’s eternal love for His people.
The cantor’s
repetition of the Amidah (Silent Prayer) is peppered with piyyutim, poetic
prayers that express our prayerful wishes for the year and other themes of the
day.
For certain selections,
those deemed especially powerful, the ark is opened. Many of these additions
are meant to be said responsively, as a joint effort between the prayer leader
and the congregation.
Even without the
added piyyutim, the Rosh Hashanah Musaf prayer is significantly
longer than it is the rest of the year.
This is because its
single middle blessing is divided into three additional blessings, each
focusing on another one of the holiday’s main themes: G‑d’s kingship, our wish
that He “remember” us for the good, and the shofar.
Each blessing
contains a collage of Biblical verses that express its theme, and is then
followed by a round of shofar blowing.
Rosh Hashanah Feasts
We eat festive meals
every night and day of the holiday. Like all other holiday meals, we begin by
reciting kiddush over wine and then say the blessing over bread. But there
are some important differences:
a. The bread
(traditionally baked into round challah loaves, and often
sprinkled with raisins) is dipped into honey instead of salt, expressing our
wish for a sweet year. We do this on Rosh Hashanah, Shabbat
Shuvah (the Shabbat before Yom Kippur), in the pre-Yom Kippur meal
and during Sukkot.
b. Furthering the
sweet theme, it is traditional to begin the meal on the first night with slices
of apple dipped in honey. Before eating the apple, we make
the ha’eitz blessing and then say, “May it be Your will to renew for
us a good and sweet year.”
c. Many people eat
parts of the head of a fish or a ram, expressing the wish that “we be
a head and not a tail.”
d. In many
communities, there are additional traditional foods eaten, each symbolizing a
wish for the coming year. Many eat pomegranates, giving voice to a wish that “our merits be many like the [seeds of the]
pomegranate.” Another common food istzimmes, a sweet carrot-based dish
eaten because of its Yiddishname, merren, which means both “carrot”
and “increase,” symbolizing a wish for a year of abundance.
e. It is traditional
to avoid nuts as well as vinegar-based, sharp foods, most notably the
horseradish traditionally eaten with gefilte fish, since we don’t want a bitter
year.
f. On the second
night of the holiday, we do not eat the apples, fish heads, pomegranates, etc.
However, before we break bread (and dip it in honey), we eat a “new fruit,”
something we have not tasted since the last time it was in season.
What’s Next?
Hashanah is the start of the Yamim
Nora’im (High Holidays).
The holy day of Yom
Kippur when we gather in synagogue for 25 hours of fasting, prayer and
inspiration, is just a week later.
The days in between
(known as the10 Days of Repentance, or the Ten Days of Return) are an
especially propitious time for teshuvah, returning to G‑d.
Yom Kippur is followed
by the joyous holidays of Sukkot and Simchat Torah.
The season of the High
Holidays is a time for an epic journey for the soul, and Rosh Hashanah is where
it all begins.
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Rosh Hashanah – Welcome 5777!
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Shofar of Flesh
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THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS 
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