Rosh Hashanah

• Rosh Hashanah


  The Jewish new year festival, also known as the day of judgement
• Rosh Hashanah


  • It lasts for two days
  • It's a time for Jews to think about their lives, their actions and ultimately ask for forgiveness
  • It remembers the creation of the world by God as found in the book of Genesis
• Rosh Hashanah


  It should be a happy time because it's the start of a new year, so Jews approach the new year in a good and positive way, trying to do good actions and put negative or bad actions behind them
• Rosh Hashanah


  It's also a serious celebration because it reminds Jews how God is the judge and ultimately He will judge their behaviour throughout the last year, and that has an impact on their afterlife
• Rosh Hashanah


  It links to another important festival, Yom Kippur, which is the day of atonement, a day to repair relationships not only with each other but also with God
• Celebrations at home


  • Dipping apples and honey as a symbol of a sweet new year
  • Eating pomegranates because they have many seeds, reminding Jews of the many commandments or mitzvah they have to follow
• Celebrations at the synagogue


  1. Special synagogue services are held the evening before Rosh Hashanah

  2. A ram's horn or shofar is blown 100 times to wake Jews up and remind them to be sorry for any wrongdoing and repent

  3. Jews perform tashlich, where they travel to a flowing body of water and throw crumbs or stones into the water, casting off their sins and starting again fresh in the new year

  4. Jews visit a loved one's grave and reflect on the good actions they did in their life
• Jews have 10 days from Rosh Hashanah to think about their actions and make up for any mistakes or sins they've committed, as this will end with Yom Kippur, the day of atonement
• Book of Numbers: 'On the first day of the seventh month you shall have a convocation and blow trumpets'
• Book of Genesis: 'God saw all that He had made and it was very good'
• The blowing of the shofar and the remembrance of the creation of the world are evidence for the origins of Rosh Hashanah in the Torah