Rosh Hashanah 2022/5783

Rosh Hashanah: Hebrew name means “Head of the year”—idiomatically, New Year. What’s it about? One of two “high holidays” along with Yom Kippur. A solemn holiday beginning the calendar year with repentance from sin and the hope of renewal. Foods: Apples and honey, round challah with raisins, honey cake, pomegranates, pumpkins and other round foods, sweet foods and foods that are gold-colored, like carrots. Activities: Many people attend synagogue services, during which one special activity is the sounding of the shofar, or ram’s horn. At home, a special activity is eating apples dipped in honey to symbolize our hope for a sweet new year. Many send New Year’s cards for this holiday throughout the month of Elul, or between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, try to repair relationships and make apologies for bad behavior in the previous year. Symbols: The shofar, apples and honey, pomegranates, the Book of Life. Greeting: “A good and sweet New Year,” or “Shanah Tovah.”