Rosh HashanaH
Rosh Hashana, (Hebrew: “Beginning of the Year'') , Hashana also spelled Hashanah or Ha-shanah, also called Day of Judgment or Day of Remembrance, is a major Jewish observance inaugurating the religious New Year on Tishri 1 (September or October). This is also called the annual Day of Judgment; during this period each Jew reviews his relationship with God, the Supreme Judge.
On the first night of Rosh Hashana, a New Year’s custom dictates that delicacies be prepared as omens of good luck. On the following night bread and fruit, dipped in honey, are customarily eaten, and a special blessing is recited. Rosh Hashana is the only festival observed for two days in Israel.
Rosh Hashanah ushers in a 10-day period known as the Yamim Nora-im (“Days of Awe” or “High Holidays”). Nine days after the first day of Rosh Hashanah, Jews will observe Yom Kippur, which means “day of atonement.” During Yom Kippur, observers abstain from eating and drinking and participate in daylong prayers of repentance. Forgiveness is asked for sins committed during the year.
Rosh Hashanah in the New Testament
As Messianic Jews, we know that our names have been forever inscribed in the Book of Life, for we have found atonement through the death of Yeshua.5 Nevertheless, we join the Jewish community in choosing to look back on and commemorate the closing of another year and the beginning of the next. Whereas some Jews believe in an annual day of accounting for one’s actions, we believe that Yeshua’s death has atoned for our sins forever. Nevertheless, we hear the blast of the shofar at Rosh Hashanah as an ongoing call to spiritual vigilance, and it expresses our yearning for the Lord. Not only that, for us the shofar serves as a reminder of Yeshua’s coming return. “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and the Messiah will shine on you,” the Apostle Paul writes in (Ephesians 5:14). “For the Lord, himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Messiah will rise first.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16).
As the season approaches, you might want to pick up a few New Year’s greeting cards to send to Jewish friends and family. They will appreciate your thinking of them during this special time of year, just as, if you are not Jewish, you appreciate their thoughtfulness in sending you Christmas greetings.
Rosh Hashanah Dates
Rosh Hashanah Traditions
There are many traditions associated with Rosh Hashanah, including the following:
Attending synagogue and spending time with family and friends.
Reflecting on the year before and repenting for any wrongdoings and then reflecting on the year ahead to start afresh.
Wear white and new clothes, symbolizing purity.
A sound of the ram’s horn (shofar) on both mornings.
Every evening, candles are lit. Candles are often a symbol of remembrance.
On the first day of Rosh Hashanah, the Tashlich ceremony is performed. This involves visiting a body of freshwater to symbolically cast past sins away.
Spicy, sharp, or sour foods are avoided in favor of sweet delicacies, representing wishes for a sweet and pleasant year (not a bitter year). Nuts are also avoided.
Rosh Hashanah Foods
Food plays a large role in the Rosh Hashanah tradition. Some of the symbolic foods include:
Apples dipped in honey (eaten on the first night)
Round challah (egg bread) dipped in honey and sprinkled with raisins. Try our delicious challah recipe.
A new seasonal fruit (on the second night).
Pomegranates (as their many seeds symbolize the hope that the year will be rich with many blessings).
The head of a fish (or ram) asks God that in the coming year we be “ahead and not a tail.”