Rosh Hashanah: The Jewish New Year

A Time of New Beginnings

Every autumn, as the air begins to turn crisp, Jewish communities around the world gather to observe Rosh Hashanah — the Jewish New Year. Falling on the first and second days of the Hebrew month of Tishrei (usually in September or October), Rosh Hashanah marks not only the start of a new calendar year but the beginning of the High Holiday season, a ten-day period of deep introspection that culminates in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

The name “Rosh Hashanah” translates literally as “Head of the Year.” According to Jewish tradition, this is the anniversary of the creation of the world — or, more precisely, the creation of humanity. It is a day when, symbolically, every person stands before God for judgment, and the Book of Life is opened for the year ahead.

The Sound of the Shofar

The Call That Stirs the Soul

The most iconic ritual of Rosh Hashanah is the blowing of the shofar, a trumpet made from a ram’s horn. The shofar’s raw, piercing sound is unlike any other instrument — it is meant to awaken the soul, to shake listeners out of spiritual complacency and call them to self-examination.

The shofar is blown during synagogue services on both days of Rosh Hashanah (unless the first day falls on Shabbat, when many communities do not blow the shofar). There are four distinct types of blasts:

• Tekiah — a single, long, clear blast
• Shevarim — three medium, broken sounds
• Teruah — nine rapid, staccato blasts
• Tekiah Gedolah — one final, extended blast that lasts as long as the blower can sustain it

Together, a total of 100 shofar blasts are traditionally sounded over the course of the service. The great medieval philosopher Maimonides wrote that the shofar’s message is: “Awake, you sleepers, from your sleep! Examine your deeds, return in repentance, and remember your Creator.”

Synagogue Services

Prayers for a New Year

Rosh Hashanah services are among the longest of the Jewish year. The liturgy includes the regular Shabbat and holiday prayers, along with special additions:

• Unetaneh Tokef — a solemn prayer that asks “who shall live and who shall die” in the coming year, emphasizing the gravity of divine judgment and the power of repentance, prayer, and charity to soften a harsh decree.
• Avinu Malkeinu (“Our Father, Our King”) — a responsive prayer in which the congregation asks God for mercy, forgiveness, and blessing.
• The Musaf (additional) service includes three special sections: Malchuyot (verses about God’s sovereignty), Zichronot (verses about divine remembrance), and Shofarot (verses about the shofar and revelation).

The Torah readings on Rosh Hashanah tell the stories of Sarah and the birth of Isaac on the first day and the Binding of Isaac (Akedah) on the second — narratives of faith tested, promises fulfilled, and life hanging in the balance.

Customs and Traditions

Apples and Honey

Perhaps the sweetest tradition of Rosh Hashanah is the dipping of apple slices into honey, accompanied by the blessing: “May it be Your will to renew for us a good and sweet year.” This simple act — practiced by Jews of virtually every background — captures the spirit of the holiday: hope for sweetness in the year ahead.

Round Challah

On Shabbat and most holidays, challah (braided egg bread) is baked in a long, braided shape. On Rosh Hashanah, however, the challah is shaped into a round loaf, symbolizing the cycle of the year, the continuity of life, and the crown of God’s sovereignty. Many families also add raisins to the dough for extra sweetness.

Tashlich: Casting Away Sins

On the first afternoon of Rosh Hashanah, many Jews walk to a body of flowing water — a river, stream, lake, or ocean — for the ritual of tashlich (“casting off”). Participants symbolically cast their sins into the water by shaking out their pockets or tossing breadcrumbs into the current. The practice is based on the verse from the prophet Micah: “You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.”

Tashlich is a powerful, tangible ritual — standing at the water’s edge, watching crumbs carried away by the current, physically letting go of the mistakes and regrets of the past year.

A Festive Meal and Symbolic Foods

Rosh Hashanah is celebrated with festive meals on both evenings. In addition to apples and honey, many families place a variety of symbolic foods (simanim) on the table, each accompanied by a short prayer or wish for the new year:

• Pomegranate — “May our merits be as plentiful as the seeds of a pomegranate”
• Dates — “May our enemies be consumed” (a play on the Hebrew word tamar)
• Black-eyed peas — “May our merits increase”
• Fish head — “May we be at the head and not the tail”

This practice of simanim is especially beloved in Sephardic and Mizrahi communities, where the table may include a dozen or more symbolic dishes. Ashkenazi families typically focus on the apple and honey, round challah, and pomegranate.

Ashkenazi and Sephardic Customs

While the core observances of Rosh Hashanah are shared across Jewish communities, there are beautiful variations:

• Sephardic communities begin reciting special penitential prayers called Selichot a full month before Rosh Hashanah, starting at the beginning of the month of Elul. Ashkenazi communities begin Selichot the Saturday night before Rosh Hashanah (or the previous Saturday night if Rosh Hashanah falls early in the week).
• Sephardic Jews often wear white clothing on Rosh Hashanah, a practice also observed by many Ashkenazi Jews, to symbolize purity and the hope for a clean spiritual slate.
• Musical traditions differ markedly — Ashkenazi High Holiday melodies (nusach) are distinct from Sephardic and Mizrahi liturgical chanting, though both convey deep reverence and emotion.

The Deeper Meaning

Rosh Hashanah is not a holiday of parties and confetti. It is, at its heart, a day of spiritual reckoning — a time to pause, look honestly at one’s life, and ask: Who have I been this past year? Who do I want to become in the year ahead?

The tradition teaches that on Rosh Hashanah, God inscribes every person’s fate for the coming year in the Book of Life, and the inscription is sealed on Yom Kippur. The ten days between the two holidays — the Aseret Yemei Teshuvah (Ten Days of Repentance) — are an opportunity to change course, to repair relationships, and to return to one’s best self.

The common Rosh Hashanah greeting is “Shanah Tovah” — “A good year.” The fuller version is “L’shanah tovah tikateivu v’teichateimu” — “May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.” In that simple wish lies the essence of the holiday: the belief that change is possible, that the future is not fixed, and that every new year is a gift to be received with gratitude, humility, and hope.