The Basic Customs of Rosh HaShanah
by Lieb Katzman
Rosh HaShanah is the Jewish New Year. It is celebrated for two days both in Israel and abroad. This year, 2002, Rosh HaShanah falls on Saterday, September 7, and Sunday, September 8. Like all Jewish holidays, the observance begins at night fall on the day before; hence the first day of Rosh HaShanah will begin on Friday evening, September 6. Rosh HaShanah will end at nightfall Monday evening.
Although Rosh Hashanah is a day of judgement and reckoning, we prepare for the day like all festivals by bathing and cutting out hair prior to the holiday. We wear our good clothing to show that we are certain of a good judgement because we trust in G-d's mercy.
It is a good practice to obtain a holiday prayer book, since the prayers on Rosh HaShanah (and Yom Kippur) are long and different from those of the Sabbath. Some of the more familiar prayer have subtle changes in them.
After the Evening Prayer, it is customary to wish each other a Good New Year. In Hebrew, we say, "Leshanah tovah tikatev vetichatam." For a woman or a girl, the Hebrew phrase is in the feminine gender, "leshanah tovah tiktavi vetichtami." In many places the custom is to say simply, "a gut yoar" which is the Yiddish equivilent.
After the Evening Prayers, we return to the home for the festive meal. In addition to the traditional wine and challah (a special bread) other special dishes are prepared and used as 'signs' for a good omen. The first is honey. Instead of dipping our bread in salt, as we normally do, we dip the bread in honey. At the beginning of the meal, we take an apple and dip it into honey also, as we make a request to G-d that we be renewed for a sweet year.
Various other foods are served to be used as good omens. The very meticulous will bring the head of an animal onto their table to request that we be a 'head' and not a 'tail.' We also try to use foods whose names lend toward signs and omens. Carrots (gezer in Hebrew) are a popular item since in Hebrew, gezer, is the same word for carrot and a decree. So we request that G-d will with hold any evil gezar (decree). The same principle can be applied on words in the English language. As an example, some people have been know to take a stalk of celery and some raisins and prior to eating them, they request G-d to help them get a raise in their salary. Certainly, you can come up with something better than that!
Just like we try to eat special dishes on Rosh HaShanah, we refrain from other foods. Nuts are avoided because 1) they have a tendency to lodge in the throat, thus making proper prayer difficult and 2) because they have the same numerical equivalent (in Hebrew) as sin, which we are trying to avoid.
On Rosh Hashanah day, we hurry to the synagogue to hear the special event of the day: the blowing of the shofar. The blowing of the shofar is a special mitzvah (commandment) which is written in the Torah. We stand and listen to the sounds as they are blown. The shofar is generally the horn of a ram. This is to remind us of the patriarch Issac, who was bound up by his father, Abraham, on Mount Moriah (now the Temple mount in Jerusalem). This recalls his merit of being willing to be a sacrifice to G-d. We do not talk during the many different shofar sounds.
After the Morning Services, we return home to have another festive meal. We try not to take a nap during the first day. After the meal, there is a custom to walk to a river or lake where there are fish to say a prayer called "Tashlich." In communities where rivers or ponds are not with in walking distance, we can go to any body or collection of water to say this prayer. It is best to spend as much of the day saying Psalms.
The second day of Rosh HaShanah is similar to the first. However many do not eat the special foods used for good omens. Honey, however, is still used. Tashlich is not recited on the second day if it was recited on the first day. Candles are lit on the first day prior to sunset, but on the second day they are lit after it is clearly night.
by Lieb Katzman
Rosh HaShanah is the Jewish New Year. It is celebrated for two days both in Israel and abroad. This year, 2002, Rosh HaShanah falls on Saterday, September 7, and Sunday, September 8. Like all Jewish holidays, the observance begins at night fall on the day before; hence the first day of Rosh HaShanah will begin on Friday evening, September 6. Rosh HaShanah will end at nightfall Monday evening.
Although Rosh Hashanah is a day of judgement and reckoning, we prepare for the day like all festivals by bathing and cutting out hair prior to the holiday. We wear our good clothing to show that we are certain of a good judgement because we trust in G-d's mercy.
It is a good practice to obtain a holiday prayer book, since the prayers on Rosh HaShanah (and Yom Kippur) are long and different from those of the Sabbath. Some of the more familiar prayer have subtle changes in them.
After the Evening Prayer, it is customary to wish each other a Good New Year. In Hebrew, we say, "Leshanah tovah tikatev vetichatam." For a woman or a girl, the Hebrew phrase is in the feminine gender, "leshanah tovah tiktavi vetichtami." In many places the custom is to say simply, "a gut yoar" which is the Yiddish equivilent.
After the Evening Prayers, we return to the home for the festive meal. In addition to the traditional wine and challah (a special bread) other special dishes are prepared and used as 'signs' for a good omen. The first is honey. Instead of dipping our bread in salt, as we normally do, we dip the bread in honey. At the beginning of the meal, we take an apple and dip it into honey also, as we make a request to G-d that we be renewed for a sweet year.
Various other foods are served to be used as good omens. The very meticulous will bring the head of an animal onto their table to request that we be a 'head' and not a 'tail.' We also try to use foods whose names lend toward signs and omens. Carrots (gezer in Hebrew) are a popular item since in Hebrew, gezer, is the same word for carrot and a decree. So we request that G-d will with hold any evil gezar (decree). The same principle can be applied on words in the English language. As an example, some people have been know to take a stalk of celery and some raisins and prior to eating them, they request G-d to help them get a raise in their salary. Certainly, you can come up with something better than that!
Just like we try to eat special dishes on Rosh HaShanah, we refrain from other foods. Nuts are avoided because 1) they have a tendency to lodge in the throat, thus making proper prayer difficult and 2) because they have the same numerical equivalent (in Hebrew) as sin, which we are trying to avoid.
On Rosh Hashanah day, we hurry to the synagogue to hear the special event of the day: the blowing of the shofar. The blowing of the shofar is a special mitzvah (commandment) which is written in the Torah. We stand and listen to the sounds as they are blown. The shofar is generally the horn of a ram. This is to remind us of the patriarch Issac, who was bound up by his father, Abraham, on Mount Moriah (now the Temple mount in Jerusalem). This recalls his merit of being willing to be a sacrifice to G-d. We do not talk during the many different shofar sounds.
After the Morning Services, we return home to have another festive meal. We try not to take a nap during the first day. After the meal, there is a custom to walk to a river or lake where there are fish to say a prayer called "Tashlich." In communities where rivers or ponds are not with in walking distance, we can go to any body or collection of water to say this prayer. It is best to spend as much of the day saying Psalms.
The second day of Rosh HaShanah is similar to the first. However many do not eat the special foods used for good omens. Honey, however, is still used. Tashlich is not recited on the second day if it was recited on the first day. Candles are lit on the first day prior to sunset, but on the second day they are lit after it is clearly night.
