Judaica for Rosh Hashannah: The Shofar Siddue and prayer

Rosh HaShana is the beginning of the Jewish New				garment that actually is what Jewish men are
Year and is one of the "Days of Awe". It is				buried in. The Kittel may be embroidered with
popularly known as one of the "Days of Awe"				flowers and diamond patterns like a Tallit;
and is also the first of the Ten Days of				however, this may not be the case. This piece
Repentance, when Jews atone for their sins.				of Judaica is worn on Rosh HaShana, Yom Kippur
Rosh HaShana is the day on which Jews declare				and at the Passover meal known as the Seder.
G-d to be the master over all. It addition, under				However, this is not the Kittel's main purpose.
the Jewish calendar it is the day on which man				The Kittel's purpose on Rosh HaShana is to
was created. During this two-day period, there				represent the color white, which is symbolic of
are numerous Judaica that play a prominent role in				cleanliness from sin and by wearing it, is to show
helping Jews to focus on the two tasks at hand:				G-d that Jews wish to be sin-free and that He
accepting G-d as king over the world and				should forgive their sins.
beginning to ask for forgiveness for sins.				One of the most understated, unheard of, yet
The most well known piece of Rosh HaShana				one of the most important pieces of Rosh
Judaica is the Shofar. The Shofar is a horn of a				HaShana Judaica is the prayer book used, which is
goat, sheep or ram that is blown on each of the				a special book known as a Machzor. Machzors
two mornings of Rosh HaShana. The Shofar				are essentially prayer books that contain all of the
itself may be either long or short and actually				relevant prayers for a given holiday. There are
may be from any kosher animal although it is not				Machzors for each of the major holidays –
common to see Shofars from other animals				Passover, Shavuot (Pentecost), Rosh HaShana,
other than in the Yemenite communities where				Yom Kippur and Sukkot (Tabernacles). Judaica
they use Shofars from an antelope. The blowing				such as Machzorim are especially important on a
of the Shofar is the main mitzvah, or				day like Rosh HaShana, where the prayers are
commandment, of the day and when blown, this				special and most of them do not appear in a
piece of Judaica, produces a sound that literally is				regular Siddur, or prayer book. The prayers in
ear-piercing and shocks the person listening to the				the Machzor are meant to express joy over the
blowing of the Shofar into paying attention to				fact that G-d is the king over the world,
what is going on in the synagogue.				recognize that the lives all creatures are
Another important piece of Judaica used on Rosh				dependent on G-d and also ask G-d for
HaShana is a Kittel. A Kittel is a long white				forgiveness for sins.