Tomorrow is Erev Rosh Hashana. In Judaism, it is the New Year! It is one of the holiest days of the entire religion. There are several different things we are supposed to do to celebrate the holiday. Some of those include sitting through hours long services while forcing yourself to stay awake, eating apples dipped in honey, and listening to the shofar. The apples and honey signify a "sweet" New Year. It is the most common practice of Rosh Hashana. Eating pomegranate is also a tradition for Rosh Hashana, but it is less common. My personal favorite Rosh Hashana food is the honey cake. The shofar is a curved horn deriving from a kosher animal, most frequently the ram. The person who blows the shofar follows several commands: tekiah, shevarim, teruah, and tekiah gedolah. Tekiah indicates that the player should blow one quick blast. Shevarim tells the player to play three short blasts quickly that start softer and "scoop" to a higher pitch. Teruah (the hardest command in my opinion) is nine short and rapid blasts. Lastly, teriak gedolah is one held out blast. Traditionally this blast should last nine seconds, but players try to hold it for as long as possible. According to one of the teachers at my school, the blowing of the shofar signifies the opening of the gates to heaven. The gates to heaven open during the time between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur because it is the time when God judges the Jewish people for their sins this year. However, it is important to understand that God judges the Jews not on their sins committed against him, but against other men. It is worse to sin against a fellow man than God himself. When it is blown on Yom Kippur, it signifies the end of the fast. There are several other purposes for the shofar and they have changed over time. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment or send me a message. Furthermore, if you have never had the opportunity to listen to the shofar blowing, check out this video:
The real importance of the holiday is to reflect on your year. It is a time that is meant to be spent thinking about all of the good things you've accomplished. However, it is just as important to look upon your failures. You're meant to think about the times you could have done things differently, treated someone better, or all around been a better person. Throughout the year, things cannot always go perfectly and people make mistakes. Rosh Hashana is the opportunity to realize where you may have hurt someone and apologize. It is the perfect time to rebuild any bridges you may have burnt. It is never easy to come to terms with your faults, but when you recognize you're wrong doing, you become a more honest person. You become more honest not only with your loved ones, but with yourself. Every year you should strive to be better and do better. You cannot do that without admitting when you were wrong.
Between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, the Jewish people are tasked with the job of understanding their sins and repenting. As stated earlier, these sins are those done upon other people, not God. God is looking for you to not only forgive the sins committed against you, but atone for those you committed against someone else. God sits with three books during the 10 days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur and decides which book to put each living thing in. The first book is for those who were righteous during the year. The second book is for those who were wicked. Finally, the third book is for those who's good deeds and bad deeds were balanced.
When I was young, I would go with my family to synagogue on Rosh Hashana. (Side note: I would still be doing this today if I were not in Israel.) After the services, I remember watching everyone grabbing a few slices of bread of a table in the lobby and starting to walk together. I was never quite sure exactly what we were doing, but we would end up at a local pond. We would take the bread and rip it into little pieces, throwing them into the water. At the time, I thought this was great. We were feeding the ducks! It wasn't until recently that I figured out what this ritual actually symbolized. By throwing our pieces of bread into the water, we were throwing away the sins we committed that year. This practice is known as "tashlikh" or casting off.
Now that you've all received a short lesson on Rosh Hashana, I hope you all take time during the next 10 days to think back about your year. Who have you hurt? Who have you gotten into a fight with? What have you done that you could have done better? Then go and try and make things right. Apologize to friends and family that you have hurt or angered. But most importantly forgive those who have caused you pain. Forgive the people that you hope will forgive you.
What book will you end up in this year?
L'shana tovah!
Between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, the Jewish people are tasked with the job of understanding their sins and repenting. As stated earlier, these sins are those done upon other people, not God. God is looking for you to not only forgive the sins committed against you, but atone for those you committed against someone else. God sits with three books during the 10 days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur and decides which book to put each living thing in. The first book is for those who were righteous during the year. The second book is for those who were wicked. Finally, the third book is for those who's good deeds and bad deeds were balanced.
When I was young, I would go with my family to synagogue on Rosh Hashana. (Side note: I would still be doing this today if I were not in Israel.) After the services, I remember watching everyone grabbing a few slices of bread of a table in the lobby and starting to walk together. I was never quite sure exactly what we were doing, but we would end up at a local pond. We would take the bread and rip it into little pieces, throwing them into the water. At the time, I thought this was great. We were feeding the ducks! It wasn't until recently that I figured out what this ritual actually symbolized. By throwing our pieces of bread into the water, we were throwing away the sins we committed that year. This practice is known as "tashlikh" or casting off.
Now that you've all received a short lesson on Rosh Hashana, I hope you all take time during the next 10 days to think back about your year. Who have you hurt? Who have you gotten into a fight with? What have you done that you could have done better? Then go and try and make things right. Apologize to friends and family that you have hurt or angered. But most importantly forgive those who have caused you pain. Forgive the people that you hope will forgive you.
What book will you end up in this year?
L'shana tovah!
Rosh Hashana Fun Facts!
- Two other names for Rosh Hashana are: Yom Ha-Zikkaron (The Day of Remembrance) and Yom Teruach (The Day of the Sounding of the Shofar).
- Rosh Hashana always takes place on the first and second days of Tishri (the 7th month of the Jewish year).
- A common greeting during this holiday is "L'shana tovah", or for a good year. It is the equivalent of saying Happy New Years on December 31st.
- L'shana tovah is a shortened version of the phrase "L'shana tovah tikatev y'taihatem" (if you're taking to a male) or "L'shana tovah tikatevi v'taihatemi" (if you're taking to a female). This phrase means "May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year."