| Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of a Hebrew | | | | custom to go from house to house with a sack, |
| calendar year. It is a serious occasion, more akin | | | | where people, who have money, put coins in it |
| to the first day of school than the first day of | | | | and those who can't afford it take coins out of |
| January. It is a time to see how much we have | | | | the sack, but no one can know for certain, who |
| grown over the year, in a Jewish sense – | | | | donates and who takes away. This custom is |
| a time for accounting for spiritual, ethical and | | | | known as Tzedakha, or ‘Charity' which is |
| religious growth. Hence, the shofar, the ram's | | | | observed in adherence to the Mitzvah or |
| horn: like the alarm clock on the morning of the | | | | commandments which promulgates to share what |
| first day of school, the piercing sounds of the | | | | we have with those in need. |
| shofar are a wake-up call, challenged to examine | | | | Rosh Hashanah includes the standard holiday |
| the lives led in the year just concluded, and to | | | | choreography of candle lighting and the Kiddush |
| think about paths for the year ahead. | | | | blessing over wine, complemented with a variety |
| The two-day celebration of Rosh Hashanah is | | | | of culinary customs highlighting the day's themes. |
| referred to as ‘yoma arichta', meaning one | | | | These begin with a round Challah loaf, recalling a |
| day, as the forty-eight hour long observance of | | | | king's crown – denoting God's |
| Rosh Hashanah is considered to be one extended | | | | kingship—or alternately the ongoing |
| day. This observance of two days is observed | | | | continuity of the life cycle. |
| not only in Diaspora but in Jerusalem as well. | | | | Apples are dipped in honey, expressing the hope |
| Nevertheless, it is imperative that the first day of | | | | that the coming year will be one of goodness and |
| Rosh Hashanah will fall only on the following days: | | | | sweetness, and the following is recited: "May it be |
| Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, or Shabbat. | | | | Your will, our God and God our ancestors, that |
| Moreover, there is a subtle difference between | | | | our new year be good and sweet". Honey other |
| the second day of Rosh Hashanah celebrated | | | | than being consumed with apple is also used to |
| when the months were calculated based on | | | | soak Challah, the traditional bread. In fact there |
| testimony and the second day celebrated at | | | | are several dishes prepared with honey to |
| present. In the former period, if witnesses did not | | | | celebrate Rosh Hashanah. Sephardic Jews serve |
| appear, the first day celebrated would be | | | | covered fruit baskets so nobody knows what's |
| observed according to the dictate of the Rabbi | | | | inside the basket, likewise no one knows what's in |
| and the second day would be at the behest of | | | | store for the coming year. |
| the holy book, Torah. Presently, as the calendar is | | | | Several other foods became customary to eat, |
| dependent on fixed calculations, the first day Rosh | | | | because of the connection of their names (in |
| Hashanah of is a Torah obligation and the second | | | | Hebrew or Yiddish Aramaic) to our prayers for |
| day is a Rabbinical enactment. | | | | the coming year. Before each food, a prayer is |
| A custom observed on the first day of Rosh | | | | said that begins: "May it be Your will, our God and |
| Hashanah in the afternoon (or on the second day | | | | God of our ancestors…" |
| in the afternoon if the first day is the Shabbat), is | | | | On this holiday people spend most of their time |
| to gather at a stream or river to symbolically | | | | praying in Synagogues. It provides them the |
| cast away one's sins. The ceremony is known as | | | | opportunity to repent and pray for mercy to God |
| ‘Tashlich' ("cast off" in Hebrew) and involves | | | | side by side with their friends, family or loved |
| the throwing of crumbs from one's pockets into | | | | ones. Married men dressed up in Kittel, traditional |
| the running waters and the reciting of biblical | | | | white attire as a symbol of purity. Likewise |
| verses. A central verse in the ceremony is from | | | | married women cover their head inside the |
| the Book of Micah (7:19): "And you kill cast | | | | synagogue. They pray and ardently listen to the |
| [vetashlikh] all their sins in the depths of the sea." | | | | ‘chazan' which the rabbi recites. |
| At the dawn of Rosh Hashanah, it is an old | | | | |