It is Rosh Ha'Shanah -- We Wish 'L’Shanah Tovah' to All Our Jewish Brothers and Sisters

Rosh Hashanah. Rosh Ha'Shanah. • Sunday night at sundown the Jewish New Year holiday begins and continues until sundown on Tuesday, September 11. • • • WHAT is Rosh Ha'Shanah? It is the celebration of the Jewish New Year, and it is a very important holiday on the Jewish calendar. It is the first of what we call the High Holidays (or High Holy Days), a ten-day period that ends with Yom Kippur -- the holiest day of the Jewish year. On Rosh Ha'Shanah, Jews from all over the world celebrate God’s creation of the world. Rosh Ha'Shanah is two days long, and it usually occurs during the month of September. • During Rosh Ha'Shanah, Jewish people ask God for forgiveness for the things we’ve done wrong during the past year. They also remind themselves not to repeat these mistakes in the coming year. In this way, Rosh Ha'Shanah is an opportunity to improve personally. Toriavey.com describes it as : "A holiday that helps us to become better people. And that’s a beautiful thing. Jews from all over the world celebrate Rosh Ha'Shanah in different ways. Holiday traditions can be different depending on where you’re from and how your family celebrates. A special prayer service is held at synagogue. The shofar, a special instrument made from the horn of a kosher animal (usually a ram), is blown during the Rosh Ha'Shanah service. Tzedakah, or giving charity to people in need, is also part of the holiday. Good deeds are done and charity is given in the hopes that God will seal our names in the “Book of Life,” which brings the promise of a happy year to come. • Food, says toriavey.com : "is an important part of Rosh Ha'Shanah. Many special foods are included in a traditional Rosh Ha'Shanah meal as blessings. Sweet foods are eaten to symbolize our hope for a 'sweet new year.' We enjoy 'new fruit,' a fruit that has recently come into season but we have not yet had the opportunity to enjoy this year (often a pomegranate). The head of a fish is sometimes served, to remind us to be 'like the head and not the tail' -- so we’ll be leaders, not followers. The fish also symbolizes the translation of Rosh Ha'Shanah, which means 'Head of the Year' in Hebrew. A pretty, symbolic bread called challah is baked, sweetened with raisins and braided into a round shape. Apples are dipped in honey, again symbolizing sweetness. All of these traditions are important, because they help to connect us to the deeper meaning of the Rosh Ha'Shanah holiday....If you’d like to wish somebody a happy Jewish New Year, you can say “L’Shanah Tovah,” which is Hebrew for 'May you have a good year.' " • Thoughtco.com's Ariela Pelaia states that Rosh Ha'Shanah falls once a year during the month of Tishrei....the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar. This is believed to be the month in which God created the world....Hence, another way to think of Rosh Ha'Shanah as the birthday of the world....Jewish tradition teaches that during the High Holy Days, God decides who will live and who will die during the coming year. As a result, during Rosh Ha'Shanah and Yom Kippur (and in the days leading up to them) Jews embark upon the serious task of examining their lives and repenting for any wrongs they have committed during the previous year. This process of repentance is called teshuvah. Jews are encouraged to make amends with anyone they have wronged and to make plans for improving during the coming year. In this way, Rosh Ha'Shanah is all about making peace in the community and striving to be a better person. Even though the theme of Rosh Ha'Shanah is life and death, it is a holiday filled with hope for the New Year. Jews believe a compassionate and just God accepts their prayers for forgiveness. • • • ROSH HA'SHANAH LITURGY. The Rosh Ha'Shanah prayer service is one of the longest of the year -- only the Yom Kippur service is longer. Rosh Ha'Shanah service usually runs from early morning until the afternoon, and it is so unique that it has its own prayer book, called the Makhzor. Two of the most well-known prayers from Rosh Ha'Shanah liturgy, explained by thoughtco.com are : "Unetaneh Tohkef. This prayer is about life and death. Part of it reads: 'On Rosh Ha'Shanah it is written, and on Yom Kippur it is sealed, how many will leave this world and how many will be born into it, who will live and who will die... But penitence, prayer and good deeds can annul the severity of the decree.' Avienu Malkeinu. Another famous prayer is Avienu Malkeinu, which in Hebrew translates as 'Our Father Our King.' Usually, the entire congregation sings the last verse of this prayer in unison: 'Our Father, our King, answer us as though we have no deed to plead our cause, save us with mercy and loving-kindness.' • The SHOFAR is an important symbol of Rosh Ha'Shanah. This instrument, often made of a ram's horn, is blown one hundred times during each of the two days of Rosh Ha'Shanah. The sound of the shofar blast reminds people of the importance of reflection during this important holiday. The shofar is a Jewish instrument most often made from a ram’s horn, though it can also be made from the horn of a sheep or goat. According to some scholars, the shofar dates back to ancient times when making loud noises on the New Year was thought to scare off demons and ensure a happy start to the coming year. Thoughtco.com says It is hard to say whether this practice influenced Judaism. In terms of its Jewish history, the shofar is often mentioned in the Tanakh (the Torah, Nevi'im, and Ketuvim, or Torah, Prophets, and Writings), Talmud, and in rabbinic literature. It was used to announce the start of holidays, in processions, and even to mark the start of a war. Perhaps the most famous biblical reference to the shofar occurs in the Book of Joshua, where shofarot (plural of shofar) were used as part of a battle plan to capture the city of Jericho : "Then the LORD said to Joshua...March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams' horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in (Joshua 6:2-5)." According to the story, Joshua followed God’s commandments to the letter and the walls of Jericho fell, allowing them to capture the city. The shofar is also mentioned earlier in the Tanach when Moses ascends Mt. Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments. During the times of the First and Second Temple, shofarot were also used along with trumpets to mark important occasions and ceremonies. The shofar is such an important part of Rosh Ha'Shanah that another name for Rosh Ha'Shanah is Yom Teruah, which means “day of the shofar blast” in Hebrew. The shofar is blown 100 times on each of the two days of Rosh Ha'Shanah. According to the famous Jewish philosopher Maimonides, the sound of the shofar on Rosh Ha'Shanah is meant to wake up the soul and turn its attention to the important task of repentance (teshuvah). It is a commandment to blow the shofar on Rosh Ha'Shanah and there are four specific shofar blasts associated with this holiday : Tekiah - An unbroken blast lasting about three seconds // Sh'varim - A tekiah broken into three segments // Teruah - Nine rapid fire blasts // Tekiah Gedolah - A triple tekiah lasting at least nine seconds, though many shofar blowers will attempt to go significantly longer. The person who blows the shofar is called a Tokea (which literally means “blaster”), and it is no easy task to perform each of these sounds. • There are many symbolic meanings associated with the shofar and one of the best known has to do with the akeidah, when God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. The story is recounted in Genesis 22:1-24 and culminates with Abraham raising the knife to slay his son, only to have God stay his hand and bring his attention to a ram caught in a nearby thicket. Abraham sacrificed the ram instead. Because of this story, some claim that whenever the shofar is blown God will remember Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son and will, therefore, forgive those who hear the shofar’s blasts. In this way, just as the shofar blasts remind us to turn our hearts towards repentance, they also remind God to forgive us for our trespasses. The shofar is also associated with the idea of crowning God as King on Rosh Ha'Shanah. The breath used by the Tokea to make the sounds of the shofar are also associated with the breath of life, which God first breathed into Adam upon the creation of humanity. • The Tashlich is a ceremony that usually takes place during the first day of Rosh Ha'Shanah. Tashlich literally means "casting off" and involves symbolically casting off the sins of the previous year by tossing pieces of bread or another food into a body of flowing water. On the second night of Rosh Ha'Shanah, it is customary to eat a fruit that is new to us for the season, reciting the shehechiyanu blessing as we eat it, thanking God for bringing us to this season. Pomegranates are a popular choice because Israel is often praised for its pomegranates, and because, according to legend, pomegranates contain 613 seeds -- one for each of the 613 mitzvot -- 'mitzvah,' which literally means commandment or obligation, is a central term in the Bible and Jewish tradition....The Torah (the 5 Books of Moses) as a legal constitution of the Jewish people contains 'mitzvot' (commandments), upon which the Halacha (Jewish law) is based (as well as moral and spiritual guidance). Another reason for eating pomegranates is that it's said to symbolize the hope that our good deeds in the coming year will be as many as the seeds of the fruit. • Some people choose to send New Year’s greeting cards on Rosh Ha'Shanah. Before the advent of modern computers, these were handwritten cards that were mailed weeks in advance, but today it is equally common to send Rosh Ha'Shanah e-cards a few days before the holiday. • • • DEAR READERS, join me in wishing our Jewish brothers and sisters a Happy New Year, with God's blessings, happiness, and hope. “L’Shanah Tovah.”