The United Synagogue

Rosh Hashanah

On this day we reaffirm our acceptance of God as our King. God judges all of His creations on this day and decides on their fate in the coming year. We all pass by God like a flock of sheep. Rosh Hashanah is two days long.

What does Rosh Hashanah mean?
There are four possible names for this Festival.

Rosh Hashanah
The New Year. This is the most popular name of all.

Yom Hadin
The Day of Judgement. This is a time for thinking about how we can improve our lives for the future. It is a time for preparing ourselves for Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement) on the 10th of the month.

Yom Hazikaron
The Day of Memorial. This refers to the fact that God remembers about all living creatures and does not forget any of us.

Yom Teruah
The Day of Sounding. On this day we sound the Shofar (ram's horn).

What are the customs of Rosh Hashanah?
The Shofar
The Torah commands us to sound the shofar on Rosh Hashanah. A person should hear 100 blasts from the shofar on each day of Rosh Hashanah.

The shofar is made from an animal horn, preferably from a ram.

There are three sounds made with the shofar:

Tekiah - one long blast.
Shevarim - three shorter blasts.
Teruah - a series of quick blasts.

There are many meanings for why we blow the Shofar on Rosh Hashanah.

The sound of the shofar serves as a "wake-up" call to arouse our souls to repentance.

The sound of the shofar was present when we received the Torah. Thus when we hear the shofar we are reminded to strengthen our commitment to the Torah.

The sound of the shofar (which is usually made from the horn of a ram) reminds us of when Abraham tied down his son Yitzchak (Issac) to sacrifice him to G-o, as God had told him, and God stopped him at the last second and gave him a ram to sacrifice instead.

Foodstuffs
Food places an integral part of many of the Jewish Festivals, and Rosh Hashanah is no exception.

The Challah
For Rosh Hashanah, the traditional shape of the challah is round.

On the Sabbath and other holidays, after the blessing and before partaking of the challah, it is dipped into salt. On Rosh Hashanah, it is dipped in honey. This custom symbolises our hope that the coming year will be sweet new year.

Apple Dipped In Honey
After dipping a sweet apple into honey, the blessing over fruit is recited plus the additional prayer: "May it be your will to renew for us a good and sweet year." The symbolism of the honey here is also connected to a sweet year.

Head Of Sheep Or Fish
Some partake of this and say: "May it be your will that we should be at the head and not at the tail."

Tashlich
Tashlich, from the root word which means "to cast away" is the practice by which Jews go to a flowing body of water and symbolically "throw away" their sins.

This occurs in the afternoon of the first day of Rosh Hashanah or the second day if the first falls on Shabbat (Saturday). This practice is based on a verse from the book of the Prophet Michah where it says, "And Thou wilt cast ("ve-tashlich") all their sins into the depths of the sea" (Michah, 7:19)

To do Tashlich, you basically go to a running body of water. A river, sea, or lake are the best choices. Once there, several prayers are recited. And that's it. The water has symbolically carried away your sins and you are free to start over.

Greetings
On the first night of Rosh Hashanah, there is a custom that people exchange the following greeting: "May you be inscribed and sealed immediately for a good life."

No Sleep In The Afternoon
This is just as it sounds, some people do not take a nap on Rosh Hashanah afternoon. The source for this custom is a saying in the Jerusalem Talmud, "If one sleeps at the year's beginning, his good fortune likewise sleeps."