SHANAH Tovah to all of our Jewish friends at G-Square and anyone else celebrating the Jewish New Year. Rosh Hashanah 2023, is upon us and began at sundown on Friday night. What is a proper Rosh Hashanah greeting? There are actually many acceptable ways to greet someone who is recognizing Rosh Hashanah. Over the next few weeks, Jewish people around the world will gather to observe what is known as the High Holy Days. There are two main High Holy Days, also known as the High Holidays, the first of which is Rosh Hashanah, which celebrates the Jewish New Year. Some of the keyways to observe Rosh Hashanah include attending synagogue services to hear the blowing of the shofar.
A, shofar is a sacred ram's horn.
Joined with this event is the eating of apples and honey.
Apples represent hopes for fruitfulness and honey symbolizes the desire for a sweet year. Which is something we should all wish for one another. Rosh Hashanah often involves a ritual called tashlich, where those celebrating throw bread into running water to symbolically cast-off sins from the past year. As a child I witnessed this practice on numerous occasions while fishing off the pier in the neighborhood in which I grew up. I was never happy about the act because more often than, not the fish seemed to prefer the bread tossed, than the worms us kids brought.
But, reflecting back, I learned to respect and even on occasions took part in the celebration as I grew up. In the Hebrew culture, Rosh Hashanah is believed to mark the date of the creation of the world and it also begins what is known as the "Days of Awe" or "Ten Days of Repentance," a 10-day period which culminates with Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar and also one of the most somber commemorations of the year. Jewish adults observing Yom Kippur typically will fast for around 25 hours.
However, Jewish teaching explains that anyone whose health may be at risk by fasting is exempt and should still eat and drink water on Yom Kippur.
When is Rosh Hashanah? Rosh Hashanah 2023, begins at sundown on Friday, Sept. 15, and concludes at sundown on Sunday, Sept. 17, 2023.
It begins on the first day of the Hebrew month of "Tishrei." The Jewish calendar is based primarily on the moon and the Gregorian calendar is based on the sun, which is why it can feel like the High Holidays are sometimes "late" or "early". However, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are always observed on the same days on the Jewish calendar. How do you say happy Rosh Hashanah?
What do you say to someone for Rosh Hashanah? There are many acceptable ways to greet someone who is celebrating Rosh Hashanah. It is a festive holiday, so if you want to keep it simple, "Happy New Year," works just fine. Jews will often greet one another by saying "Shanah tovah" (pronounced shah-NAH toe-VAH), which means "Good year." To everyone, Hebrew or not, we here at G-Square Publishing shout out a Happy, Healthy, and productive,
SHANAH TOVAH!