Rosh Hashanahרֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה

The Torah does not call the festival New Year, but a “remembrance of blowing” (zikhron teruah) and a “day of blowing” (yom teruah) on the first day of the seventh month.^1,2

The Book of Nehemiah describes an assembly on the first day of the seventh month at which Ezra read the Torah to the people; the people wept and were told to eat rich food and drink sweet drinks, for the day was holy.³

The name Rosh Hashanah and the understanding of the day as the beginning of the year are introduced by the Mishnah, which distinguishes four “new years”; 1 Tishrei is the new year for counting years.⁴

The two-day celebration even in the Land of Israel is connected with uncertainty about the proclamation of the new moon; rabbinic tradition understands the two days as “one long day”.

According to the Mishnah, on Rosh Hashanah all people are judged and “pass before God”. The Talmud speaks of three books – of the righteous, the wicked and the intermediate; the verdict on the “intermediate” is deferred until Yom Kippur.^5,6

The Midrash connects 1 Tishrei with the creation of humankind; the liturgy therefore says on the festival “today the world was born” (ha-yom harat olam).⁷

The central theme is God’s kingship (malkhut): the world is judged, but a person has the possibility of return (teshuvah), prayer (tefillah) and charity (tzedakah).⁸

On the afternoon of the first day (or the second, if the first falls on Shabbat) people go to flowing water for the tashlich ceremony – a symbolic “casting away” of sins, based on a verse from Micah. The custom is attested in medieval Ashkenaz.¹⁰

The greetings “Shanah tovah”, “Ketivah va-chatimah tovah” (“A good inscription and sealing”) and, in Sephardi communities, “Tizku le-shanim rabot”. Sending New Year greetings has a long tradition.

The main commandment is to hear the sound of the shofar. The notes are distinguished as tekiah (long), shevarim (three broken) and teruah (nine short); it is customary to hear a hundred notes in all.^11,12

If the first day falls on Shabbat, the shofar is not sounded.¹³

It is a festival day (yom tov): no work is done, but unlike on Shabbat, cooking from an existing flame is permitted. Festival candles are lit and kiddush is said with Shehecheyanu.

There follow the Ten Days of Repentance (aseret yemei teshuvah), including the fast day of Tzom Gedaliah and Shabbat Shuvah, culminating in Yom Kippur.

The festival liturgy is found in the machzor. The additional Musaf prayer has three characteristic blessings: Malkhuyot (kingship), Zikhronot (remembrance) and Shofarot (shofar blasts).^14,8

A powerful moment is Unetaneh Tokef (“Let us declare the power of the holiness of this day”). Tradition attributes it to Rabbi Amnon of Mainz; scholarship connects it with older Palestinian piyyut poetry.

In Ashkenaz and in many other communities Avinu Malkeinu is recited. The readings are the passages on the birth of Isaac (day 1) and the binding of Isaac – the akedah (day 2).^15,16,17

The shofar – a ram’s horn, which also recalls the ram offered in place of Isaac. Its sound is interpreted as a wake-up call to repentance.¹⁸

The round challah symbolizes the cycle of the year or the crown of God’s kingship; the apple in honey, the wish for a sweet year; the pomegranate, the wish for many merits.

On the second evening a “new fruit” is eaten (often pomegranate) so that Shehecheyanu can be said again. Some avoid sour and bitter foods and nuts.

Rosh Hashanah is the world’s birthday. People wish each other a sweet year, so they eat apple dipped in honey.

In the synagogue a ram’s horn – the shofar – is blown. Children count the notes: one long, three short broken ones and nine quick ones.