FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM SEPTEMBER 6, 2018 • BUZZ • THE QUEENS COURIER 65
1. Heads up! Surprise! Rosh Hashanah
does not mean “New Year” in Hebrew.
It actually means “Head of the Year.”
Just like your head (brain) tells your
body what to do, how you behave on
Rosh Hashanah has far-reaching consequences
for the entire year.
2. Toot-toot! Th e central observance
of Rosh Hashanah is listening to the
blowing of the shofar on both mornings
of Rosh Hashanah. Made from a
hollowed-out ram’s horn, the shofar
produces three “voices”: tekiah (a long
blast), shevarim (a series of three short
blasts) and teruah (a staccato burst of
at least nine blasts). Th e shofar is blown
at various intervals during the Rosh
Hashanah morning service. Add them
all up and you get 100 “voices” in total.
3. Silent Shabbat. When Rosh Hashanah
coincides with Shabbat, we do not blow
the shofar on that day. Th e sages enacted
this as a precaution, in case someone
would end up carrying a shofar
to an expert to blow. Th ere is a deeper
lesson here as well. On Shabbat, the
coronation of the King is so deep and
so special that it’s accomplished without
the bells and whistles of the shofar.
4. House calls. Chabad rabbis all over
the world walk many miles on Rosh
Hashanah (when car travel is forbidden)
to blow shofar for people who are
unable to make it to synagogue. If you
know someone who cannot make it
to synagogue, let your closest Chabad
rabbi know as soon as possible.
5. Twice as nice. Rosh Hashanah is celebrated
for two days. In fact, while
most holidays get an extra day in the
Diaspora, Rosh Hashanah is the only
one that is celebrated for two days in
Israel as well.
6. But not thrice. Th e Jewish calendar
follows a particular rhythm. Th e
fi rst morning of Rosh Hashanah can
be Monday, Tuesday, Th ursday or
Shabbat—never Sunday, Wednesday
or Friday.
7. Fireworks in your dining room. Like
Shabbat and other Jewish holidays, the
Rosh Hashanah meals should be eaten
in the joyous glow of candles, lit by
the woman (or women) of the house.
Remember: On the fi rst night, it is ideal
to light before the onset of the holiday.
On the second night, light only aft er
nightfall, taking care to use a preexisting
fl ame and not blow out your match
when done. (Even though we may light
fi res and cook on holidays, kindling
a new fi re or extinguishing fl ames are
forbidden.)
8. Round rolls. On Rosh Hashanah we
traditionally start our holiday feasts
with two loaves of round challah,
sweetened with raisins to demonstrate
our wish for a sweet new year. To add
sweetness to our already sweet wish,
we dip the challah in honey before taking
the fi rst bite
9. Apples dipped in honey. Th e meal
then proceeds, including a number
of sweet delicacies and other foods
that express our prayerful wishes for
the year. Th e most common symbolic
food is apple slices dipped in
honey (or sugar in some communities).
Another favorite is tzimmes, a
traditional Eastern European dish that
includes carrots
10. Head for the head. It is customary
to sample a morsel from the head of a
fi sh on Rosh Hashanah, symbolizing
our wish to be “a head and not a tail.”
Some people prefer the head of a ram,
which is appropriate since it evokes
the time when Abraham almost followed
God’s command to sacrifi ce his
son Isaac, until God stopped him at
the last moment and had him sacrifi ce
a ram instead.
11. Seed count. Many people eat pomegranates
on Rosh Hashanah, demonstrating
their wish for as many merits
as the pomegranate has seeds. It is
commonly said that the pomegranate
has 613 seeds, corresponding to the
613 mitzvahs in the Torah. However,
this has yet to be empirically demonstrated
by seed counters worldwide.
12. Meet and greet. Th e traditional Rosh
Hashanah greeting is “shanah tovah”
הבוט הנש) ), which means “good year.”
Th e word u’metuka ( הקותמו ), “and
sweet,” is sometimes added.
13. A day to play. Th e Rosh Hashanah
morning services are particularly long,
mostly due to the extra liturgy inserted
into the cantor’s repetition of the
Amidah (the standing prayer). Much
of it is poetic in style, and arranged
according to the Hebrew alphabet—a
boon for people wishing to learn the
prayers by heart
14. Birth and (near) death. On both days
of Rosh Hashanah we read about the
life of Isaac. On the fi rst day we read
about God granting Sarah’s wish and
blessing her with a son, Isaac. On the
second day we read how Abraham
almost sacrifi ced him on an altar.
15. Cast away sins. On the fi rst aft ernoon
of Rosh Hashanah (provided it is not
Shabbat), it is customary to walk to a
body of fresh water and recite a special
prayer, symbolically casting our sins
into the waters. Th e waterside ceremony
(called tashlich) is evocative of the
coronation ceremonies of old, where
the rushing waters symbolized good
wishes for a long reign—appropriate
on Rosh Hashanah, when God is coronated
King of the Universe.
16. Don’t blink! Even though napping on
Shabbat is considered a virtuous way
to celebrate the day of rest, on Rosh
Hashanah we make a point of not
napping (and some people even stay
awake at night), not wasting a precious
moment on something as trivial as
shuteye. Th e Talmud states that if one
sleeps at the beginning of the year—
i.e., on Rosh Hashanah—his good fortune
also sleeps.
17. Like sheep. On Rosh Hashanah every
single creature passes before God in
judgement. Yet it is not a sad day, but
one of quiet confi dence and optimism.
Aft er all, if God created us and continues
to sustain us, He obviously believes
we have something to accomplish on
His earth. And if He believes in us, so
should we.
Copyright and reprinted with permission
of Chabad.org. Edited for format.
Jewish New Year
17 Rosh Hashanah
facts that everyone
should know!