Introduction:
Rosh Hashanah (Hebrew for "beginning of the year") is the Jewish spiritual New Year. The Mishnah, the core work of the Jewish oral law, sets this day aside as the new year for calculating calendar years and sabbatical and jubilee years. Rabbinic literature describes this day as a day of judgement. God is sometimes referred to as the "Ancient of Days." Some descriptions depict God as sitting upon a throne, while books containing the deeds of all humanity are opened before Him. This holiday is part of the Yamim Noraim (Hebrew, "Days of Awe"); the Yamim Noraim are a ten day period which begins with Rosh Hashanah, followed by the days of repentance, and end with the holiday of Yom Kippur.
HISTORY OF ROSH HASHANAH
Rosh Hashanah extends over the first two days of the Hebrew month of Tishrei, even in Israel where most holidays last only one day. (Since days in the Hebrew calendar end at sunset, the beginning of Rosh Hashanah is when sunset occurs at the end of the 29th of Elul.) The second day is a later addition and not in keeping with the biblical commandment, which states that the holiday should be celebrated for just one day. There is some evidence that Rosh Hashanah was only celebrated for one day in Jerusalem as late as the thirteenth century.
In Reconstructionist Judaism and Reform Judaism, some communities observe only the first day of Rosh HaShanah, while others observe two days. Orthodox Judaism and Conservative Judaism observe both the first and second days. The Karaites Jews observe only one day on the first day of Tishrei, since the second day is not written in the Torah.
Rosh Hashanah occurs 162 days after the first day of Pesach (Passover). In the Gregorian calendar at present, Rosh Hashanah cannot occur before September 5, as happened in 1899 and will happen again in 2013. After the year 2089, the differences between the Hebrew Calendar and the Gregorian Calendar will force Rosh Hashanah to be not earlier than September 6. Rosh Hashanah cannot occur later than October 5, as happened in 1967 and will happen again in 2043. The Hebrew calendar is so constituted that the first day of Rosh Hashanah can never occur on Wednesday, Friday, or Sunday. Among the Samaritans, Rosh Hashanah is celebrated in spring, on the first day of Nisan, in accordance with their version of the Torah.
During the Yamim Noraim ("Hebrew, "Days of Awe") many penential prayers (called selihot) and religious poems (called piyuttim) are added to the regular prayer services. Special prayer books for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur developed, called the mahzor (sing.), or mahzorim (plural). The traditional greeting on Rosh Hashanah is "Shana Tova" - Hebrew for "Happy New Year".
This holiday is characterized by the blowing of the shofar, a trumpet made from a ram's horn. During the afternoon of the first day occurs the practice of tashlikh, the symbolic casting away of sins by throwing either stones or bread crumbs into the waters. Rosh Hashanah meals often include apples and honey, to symbolize a "sweet new year".
ROSH HASHANAH TRIVIA
Foods eaten during the time of Rosh Hashanah are always kosher and include apples and honey.