Rosh Hashanah

The Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the High Holy Days and the Days of Awe. A time of both celebration and solemn reflection, it commemorates God’s creation of the world and initiates ten days of repentance culminating in Yom Kippur. The shofar’s piercing call awakens souls to judgment, kingship, and renewal.

Biblical Foundation

Torah Commandments

Leviticus 23:23-25: “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Say to the Israelites: On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of sabbath rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts. Do no regular work, but present a food offering to the Lord.’”

Numbers 29:1-6: “On the first day of the seventh month hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. It is a day for you to sound the trumpets.”

Biblical Name: Yom Teruah (יום תרועה) - Day of Trumpet Blast/Shouting

Historical Development

Biblical Period:

• One-day festival on first of seventh month (Tishrei)
• Trumpet blasts central
• Nature of observance not fully specified

Babylonian Exile:

• Tishrei 1 became New Year (previously in spring with Nisan)
• Influence of Babylonian calendar
• New Year theme developed

Second Temple Period:

• Two-day observance established
• Expanded liturgy and theology
• Connection to creation and judgment

Nehemiah 8: Post-exilic celebration with Ezra reading Torah, people weeping, then celebrating

Theological Significance

The Four Names and Their Meanings

Rosh Hashanah (ראש השנה):

• “Head of the Year”
• New beginning
• Fresh start
• Crowning of God as King

Yom Teruah (יום תרועה):

• “Day of Sounding”
• Shofar blasts
• Wake-up call
• Alarm and proclamation

Yom HaDin (יום הדין):

• “Day of Judgment”
• Divine accounting
• Books opened
• Fate inscribed

Yom HaZikaron (יום הזכרון):

• “Day of Remembrance”
• God remembers creation
• Remembers covenant
• Individuals remembered for judgment

Themes of Rosh Hashanah

1. Creation:

• Anniversary of world’s creation (rabbinic tradition)
• Specifically, creation of Adam on sixth day
• “Today the world was born” (liturgy)
• God as Creator and Sustainer

2. Kingship (Malchuyot):

• God enthroned as King of Universe
• Sovereignty over creation and history
• Coronation ceremony
• “The Lord is King, the Lord was King, the Lord will be King forever”

3. Remembrance (Zichronot):

• God remembers His covenant
• Remembers Abraham’s binding of Isaac
• Remembers His people
• Individual deeds remembered

4. Judgment:

• Books of life and death opened
• Each person passes before God
• Fate inscribed (sealed on Yom Kippur)
• Accounting of deeds

5. Repentance (Teshuvah):

• Call to return to God
• Self-examination
• Beginning of Ten Days of Awe
• Opportunity for renewal

The Shofar

The Ram’s Horn

Description:

• Made from ram’s horn (in remembrance of Isaac)
• Hollowed and shaped
• Simple, ancient instrument
• Produces piercing, otherworldly sound

Sounds:

1. Tekiah: Long, straight blast
2. Shevarim: Three medium broken blasts
3. Teruah: Nine short, staccato blasts
4. Tekiah Gedolah: Very long final blast

Pattern: Series of 100 blasts throughout service

Symbolic Meanings

Maimonides’ Interpretation: “Wake up from your sleep! You who are asleep, arise from your slumber! Examine your deeds and return in repentance!”

Multiple Associations:

• Coronation: Trumpet proclaiming King
• Alarm: Wake-up call to repentance
• Remembrance: God remembering covenant
• Binding of Isaac: Ram sacrificed in Isaac’s place
• Sinai: Sound of shofar at giving of Torah
• Future Redemption: Great shofar announcing Messiah

Spiritual Impact:

• Primal, unsettling sound
• Bypasses intellect, speaks to soul
• Ancient connection to Jewish history
• Call to introspection

Liturgy and Prayer

The Mahzor

Special Prayer Book:

• Used for High Holy Days
• Rich poetry and prose
• Themes of judgment, mercy, repentance
• Varies by community (Ashkenazi, Sephardi, etc.)

Central Prayers

Avinu Malkeinu (“Our Father, Our King”):

• Series of petitions
• Balance of intimacy (Father) and reverence (King)
• Recited throughout Ten Days of Awe
• “Our Father, our King, inscribe us in the Book of Life”

Unetaneh Tokef:

• “Let us speak of the awesome holiness of this day”
• Vivid description of divine judgment
• “Who shall live and who shall die”
• “Repentance, prayer, and charity avert the severe decree”
• Attributed to Rabbi Amnon of Mainz (legendary)

Aleinu:

• Proclaiming God’s sovereignty
• Vision of universal recognition of God
• Originally composed for Rosh Hashanah
• Now in all daily services

Kiddush and Blessings:

• Special Rosh Hashanah Kiddush
• Shehecheyanu (thanksgiving for reaching this season)

Torah and Haftarah Readings

First Day:

• Torah: Genesis 21 - Birth of Isaac, expulsion of Hagar
• Haftarah: 1 Samuel 1-2 - Hannah’s prayer, birth of Samuel

Second Day:

• Torah: Genesis 22 - Binding of Isaac (Akedah)
• Haftarah: Jeremiah 31 - God’s eternal love, future redemption

Why Akedah?:

• Merit of Abraham and Isaac invoked
• Ram’s horn recalls ram sacrificed instead of Isaac
• Ultimate test of faith
• God provides deliverance

Observance and Customs

Festive Meals

Balance: Joyful celebration despite solemn themes

Symbolic Foods:

Apples and Honey:

• “May it be Your will to renew for us a good and sweet year”
• Most iconic Rosh Hashanah symbol
• Sweetness of coming year

Round Challah:

• Cycle of year
• Crown for King
• Continuity
• Sometimes with raisins for extra sweetness

Pomegranates:

• “May our merits be as numerous as pomegranate seeds”
• Traditionally 613 seeds (number of commandments)

Fish Head:

• “May we be as the head and not the tail”
• Leadership and blessing

Carrots (tzimmes):

• Yiddish word for carrots (mehren) sounds like “increase”
• “May our merits increase”

Dates, Beets, Leeks:

• Hebrew puns on words for blessings
• “May our enemies be removed”

No Nuts: Some avoid (Hebrew word for nut equals Hebrew for sin numerologically)

Tashlich

Ceremony on Afternoon of First Day:

• Go to body of flowing water (river, ocean, lake)
• Recite prayers
• Symbolically cast sins into water
• Shake out pockets or toss breadcrumbs
• Based on Micah 7:19: “Cast all their sins into the depths of the sea”

Meaning:

• Symbolic cleansing
• Fresh start
• Letting go of past year’s failures

Greetings

Shanah Tovah (שנה טובה):

• “Good year”
• Short form of “Shanah Tovah u’Metukah” (Good and sweet year)

L’Shanah Tovah Tikatevu (לשנה טובה תכתבו):

• “May you be inscribed for a good year”
• Reference to Book of Life

Cards and Wishes:

• Sending New Year cards
• Well-wishes for inscription in Book of Life

The Ten Days of Awe

Yamim Noraim (ימים נוראים):

• Ten days from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur
• Period of repentance and introspection
• God’s judgment inscribed but not sealed
• Opportunity to change decree

Practices:

• Increased prayer and charity
• Seeking forgiveness from those wronged
• Self-examination
• Penitential prayers (Selichot)

Shabbat Shuvah:

• Sabbath between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur
• “Sabbath of Return”
• Special focus on repentance

Three Books Opened

Talmudic Teaching: On Rosh Hashanah, three books are opened:

1. Book of Life: For the completely righteous - immediately inscribed for life
2. Book of Death: For the completely wicked - immediately inscribed for death
3. Intermediate Book: For those in between - judgment suspended until Yom Kippur

Most People: In the intermediate category, with opportunity to tip the scales through repentance, prayer, and charity

Historical and Cultural Aspects

Calendar Complexities

Two Days:

• Originally one day (biblical)
• Two days because of uncertainty of new moon sighting
• Practice maintained even with fixed calendar
• Reform Judaism often observes one day

New Year Paradox:

• Biblically, Nisan (spring) is first month
• Tishrei (fall) became civil new year
• Four “new years” in Jewish tradition for different purposes

Customs Across Communities

Ashkenazi (European):

• Gefilte fish
• Honey cake
• Traditional prayers and melodies

Sephardi (Mediterranean/Middle Eastern):

• Elaborate seder with symbolic foods
• Special blessings (yehi ratzon) over each
• Different musical traditions

Yemenite, Ethiopian, Persian:

• Unique customs and foods
• Distinct liturgical melodies
• Community-specific traditions

Modern Observance

Synagogue Attendance:

• High attendance even among secular Jews
• Largest gatherings of year (with Yom Kippur)
• Tickets or membership often required

Secular Observance:

• Many non-religious Jews still attend services
• Family gatherings
• Traditional foods
• Cultural identification

Rosh Hashanah in Jewish Thought

Judgment and Mercy

Balance:

• God as both Judge and Father
• Justice tempered with compassion
• Strict accounting but desire for repentance
• Fear and love

Not Fatalistic:

• Fate not predetermined
• Human choice matters
• Repentance can change decree
• Partnership between divine will and human action

Individual and Communal

Personal Accountability:

• Each person judged individually
• “Like sheep passing before shepherd” (liturgy)
• Private relationship with God

Communal Responsibility:

• Gathered as community
• Collective fate
• Prayers in plural
• Bound together

Creation Theology

God as Creator:

• Sustaining creation continuously
• Renewing creation annually
• Humanity as crown of creation
• Responsibility for stewardship

Adam’s Creation:

• Anniversary of first human (tradition)
• All humanity descended from one
• Unity of human race
• Equal standing before God

Philosophical Themes

Time and Renewal

Cyclical Time:

• Year cycles back to beginning
• Opportunity for fresh start
• Not trapped by past
• Future is open

Linear Progress:

• Also moving forward
• Growth and development
• History has direction
• Moving toward redemption

Free Will and Responsibility

Human Agency:

• People can change
• Choices matter
• Not determined by past
• Accountable for actions

Hope and Optimism

Jewish Worldview:

• Change is possible
• God desires relationship
• Repentance always accepted
• Future can be different from past

Rosh Hashanah and Other Faiths

Christianity

Feast of Trumpets:

• Mentioned in Leviticus 23
• Some Christian groups observe
• Messianic Jews celebrate with Jesus emphasis
• Mainstream Christianity doesn’t observe

Typology:

• Trumpet associated with Second Coming
• Resurrection trumpet (1 Thess. 4:16)
• Day of the Lord themes
• Judgment day parallels

Islam

No Direct Parallel:

• Islamic New Year (1 Muharram) is different
• No similar judgment day observance
• Day of Judgment is future eschatological event

Shared Concepts:

• Divine judgment
• Human accountability
• Repentance (tawbah)
• God as King and Judge

Contemporary Relevance

Universal Themes

Self-Examination:

• Taking stock of life
• Assessing priorities
• Considering changes
• Relevant across cultures

Accountability:

• Actions have consequences
• Responsibility for choices
• Moral universe
• Justice matters

Renewal:

• Fresh starts possible
• Not trapped by past
• Hope for change
• Second chances

Modern Challenges

Secularization:

• Maintaining meaning in secular age
• Beyond ethnic nostalgia
• Spiritual depth vs. cultural practice

Contemporary Interpretations:

• Environmental stewardship (creation theme)
• Social justice (judgment theme)
• Personal growth (repentance theme)

The Message of Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah offers a powerful annual reset. The shofar’s blast is an alarm clock for the soul—wake up! The year ahead is unwritten. The past is reviewed but not determinative. Change is possible.

The day balances trembling and trust. God is Judge, examining every deed, weighing every word. But God is also King, Father, Creator—desiring relationship, offering mercy, providing opportunity for return.

“Today the world stands as at birth”—each Rosh Hashanah is creation renewed. The judgment is real, but so is the possibility of redemption. The books are opened, but the verdict isn’t sealed—there’s still time to tip the scales.

The symbolic foods speak hope: sweetness, abundance, blessing. Despite the solemn themes, Rosh Hashanah is ultimately optimistic. God wants His people to live, to thrive, to be inscribed in the Book of Life.

The shofar’s call echoes through history—from Sinai to the Akedah, from exile to restoration, from this world to the world to come. It’s both ancient and urgent, historical and immediate, collective and personal.

“Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.” — Isaiah 55:6

As the Jewish people gather in synagogues worldwide, the message rings clear: This is the time. The gates are open. God is listening. Return is possible. Life, blessing, and a sweet new year await those who respond to the shofar’s call.

L’Shanah Tovah Tikatevu v’Tichatemu - May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.