Rosh Hashana - A New Addition to the Holiday Pages at JBC.org
Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, falls on the first and second of the month of Tishrei, which typically corresponds to September or early October on the secular calendar. The command to observe Rosh Hashana can be found in Vayikra (Leviticus) 23:23-25 (JPS translation):
The LORD spoke to Moses saying: Speak to the Israelite people thus: In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe complete rest, a sacred occasion commemorated with loud blasts. You shall not work at your occupations…
There are a couple of important points to notice in this text. First, the Jewish people are to mark the occasion with “loud blasts.” This refers to the blowing of the shofar, a hollow ram’s horn, which is a very distinct part of the morning prayer service on this holiday. Second, although Rosh Hashana is the Jewish New Year, it falls on the first day of what is actually the seventh month in the Jewish calendar. The month of Nissan, during which we celebrate Passover, is actually the first month. Why this inconsistency? As Rabbi Joseph Telushkin explains in his book Jewish Literacy, “Tishrei commemorates the month in which God created the world.” While Nissan marks the birth of the Jewish nation, Tishrei marks the birth of the universe.
Rosh Hashana is at once a somber and joyous day, part meditative and part celebratory. It falls immediately after the month of Elul, during which we are to spend time each day examining our lives, noting how we have wronged others, and making amends, and hearing the shofar blast each morning during prayers. It commences the Days of Awe, the ten days from Rosh Hashana to Yom Kippur. During this time our prayers focus on repentance, and much of the holiday liturgy focuses on themes of death, judgment, and repentance. And yet we are also told by the rabbis to celebrate; it is, after all, the world’s birthday! We eat apples slices dipped in honey to remind us of the sweetness of life, and round challot which suggest the renewal theme of the High Holidays.
Tashlich is a beautiful ceremony attached to the first day morning service. In many Jewish communities, people gather in parks or other public places near bodies of water. They offer prayers and symbolically cast away their “sins” – represented by bread crumbs, rice, or bird seed – by pouring them in the water. The ceremony provides a tangible connection to the repentance in which we engage during this period, and sharing this with community can be very meaningful.
There are lots of online resources for those wanting to learn more about Rosh Hashana, with the following being especially helpful:
My Jewish Learning offers a broad selection of essays and articles about aspects of Rosh Hashana.
The Hillel site has lots to read, including a big section of PDF files for download.
As always, Chabad provides an enormous amount of material from a Chassidic/Charedi perspective.
Aish HaTorah also has an enormous list of articles and teachings about the Jewish New Year, also from an Orthodox perspective.
The Union for Reform Judaism has a Rosh Hashana site here, while the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism has theirs here.
Thanks for the resources, Yair. Actually, Rosh Hashana is celebrated on the first and second of Tishrei in Israel as well—the only holiday that occasionally saddles even Israelis with a three-day chag (attached to Shabbat as it was last year). I’m not sure where the interpretation of it as a two-day holiday comes from (pshat or commentary) but it’s interpreted as one long day rather than two days. I was also interested to learn one year that Rosh Hashana is actually meant to be the most solemn day of the year, rather than Yom Kippur. It’s the day on which the gates of repentance are opened, and it’s time to start repenting! By Yom Kippur, on the other hand, we are supposed to have completed our teshuva process and (despite fasting) should be celebrating.
Do you know the origins of the tashlich ceremony? I’ve never really gotten into it—it feels very symbolic to me, but somehow I haven’t ever really suspended disbelief in its value. It’s many people’s favorite part of the holiday (leading, I suppose, to my shul in Newton having a big nosh spread at someone’s house across the street from the pond); I’d like to know more about it.
My understanding is that the basis for Rosh Hashanah being two days even in Israel is, fundamentally, technical and practical, having to do with the announcement of the new moon. In temple times, before the calendar was fixed, a new month was declared when two witnesses saw the new moon and reported it to the Sanhedrin (the Supreme Jewish Court). Obviously, given when the last new moon was, there were only two possible days it could fall on, so even if it was overcast for a long time a month could only have 29 or 30 days. Once the Sanhedrin declared a new month, messengers (and I believe also mountaintop flame-signals, a la the signal-fire scene in Return of the King) would go out to the diaspora communities to proclaim when the new month was. The problem was that it was possible that by the time the messages arrived to the communities, it could be after the holiday was supposed to have begun! The solution was to celebrate the holiday in the diaspora on both of the possible days.
The issue with Rosh Hashanah is that it falls precisely on the new moon, so it is possible that even in Israel, by the time the new moon was witnessed it might be too late to observe the holiday on the correct day (this is especially true if it is overcast). Thus, it is observed on both possible days, which therefore halachically is considered one long day.
Now, an astute observer might notice that by the above reasoning, we should be observing two days of Yom Kippur in the diaspora as well. The sages, when they decided upon the necessity for two-day celebrations of the other holidays, realized that two days of fasting would be too much, so they didn’t institute a two-day Yom Kippur.
It is my understanding (but please correct me if I am wrong, as I am not that in tune with the Reform movement) that many Reform communities have decided to adopt a single day for Rosh Hashanah based on the calculated calendars (even in the diaspora), but as Shimshonit notes, Orthodox and Conservative observe two days, even in Israel.
Hi all,
Thanks for pointing out my spacing on the fact that Rosh Hashana is two days in Israel as well… I’ve since changed the post accordingly.
On the origins of Tashlich, see an interesting article from Chabad here: http://www.chabad.org/holidays/JewishNewYear/template_cdo/aid/446/jewish/The-Origins-of-Tashlich.htm
In my own community Tashlich has become a beautiful ceremony in a nice wooded park with a little stream, where we all gather after the morning service, read some prayers, and a poem or two, and find a quiet spot to think/pray for a bit before casting our “sins” into the stream. We then celebrate with a quick shot of schnapps or single-malt scotch :). It’s a nice way to begin the Holidays, and I think by going outside we anchor the beginning of the High Holidays into the earth in the same way we end this way with Sukkot. After hours in the synagogue, being in a beautiful place outside together is really great.
Re: Reform and Rosh Hashana… My community is an imperfect example, because we have everything from traditional to classical Reform under one roof, and so we observe both days. But I am not sure what it is like in a more monolithic Reform-only setting.
Yair