Rosh Hashanah facts that everyone should know!
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TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | AUG. 27 - SEPT. 2, 2021 29
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.
Toot-toot!
The 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).
The shofar is blown at various intervals
during the Rosh Hashanah morning
service. Add them all up and you get 100
“voices” in total.
Silent Shabbat
When Rosh Hashanah coincides
with Shabbat, we do not blow the shofar
on that day. The sages enacted this
as a precaution, in case someone would
end up carrying a shofar to an expert
to blow. There 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.
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.
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.
But not thrice
The Jewish calendar follows a particular
rhythm. The first morning of
Rosh Hashanah can be Monday, Tuesday,
Thursday or Shabbat—never Sunday,
Wednesday or Friday.
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 first night, it is ideal
to light before the onset of the holiday.
On the second night, light only after
nightfall, taking care to use a preexisting
flame and not blow out your match
when done. (Even though we may light
fires and cook on holidays, kindling a
new fire or extinguishing flames are
forbidden.)
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 first bite.
Apples dipped in honey
The meal then proceeds, including
a number of sweet delicacies and other
foods that express our prayerful wishes
for the year. The 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.
Head for the head
It is customary to sample a morsel
from the head of a fish 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 sacrifice
his son Isaac, until God stopped
him at the last moment and had him
sacrifice a ram instead.
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.
Meet and greet
The traditional Rosh Hashanah
greeting is “shanah tovah,” which
means “good year.” The word u’metuka,
“and sweet,” is sometimes added.
A day to play
The 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.
Birth and (near) death
On both days of Rosh Hashanah we
read about the life of Isaac. On the first
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 sacrificed him on an altar.
Cast away sins
On the first afternoon 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.
The 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.
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. The Talmud
states that if one sleeps at the
beginning of the year—i.e., on Rosh
Hashanah—his good fortune also
sleeps.
Like sheep
On Rosh Hashanah every single
creature passes before God in judgement.
Yet it is not a sad day, but one of
quiet confidence and optimism. After
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
/QNS.COM
/Chabad.org
