The central observance of Rosh Hashanah is hearing the sounding of the shofar, the ram’s horn. It is a mitzvah to hear the shofar on both mornings of the holiday (except if the first day is Shabbat, in which case we only blow the shofar on the second day). The first 30 blasts of the shofar are blown following the Torah-reading during morning services, and as many as 70 are then blown during (and immediately after) the Musaf service. For someone who cannot come to synagogue, the shofar may be blown the rest of the day. Click here to learn more about the shofar and its significance. Candle-LightingAs with every major Jewish holiday, women and girls light candles on each evening of Rosh Hashanah and recite the appropriate blessings. When lighting on Friday evening, be sure to light well before sunset, and on the following night, be sure night has fallen before you light. On the second night (or if lighting after nightfall on the first night), make sure to use an existing flame. Think about a new fruit that you will be eating (or garment that you are wearing) while you say the Shehecheyanu blessing. Click here for candle-lighting times in your area. Festive MealWe eat festive meals every night and day of the holiday. Like all other holiday meals, we begin by reciting kiddush over wine and then say the blessing over bread. Round Challah in HoneyThe bread (traditionally baked into round challah loaves, and often sprinkled with raisins) is dipped into honey instead of salt, expressing our wish for a sweet year. We do this on Rosh Hashanah, Shabbat Shuvah (the Shabbat before Yom Kippur), at the pre-Yom Kippur meal and during Sukkot. Apples in HoneyFurthering the sweet theme, it is traditional to begin the meal on the first night with slices of apple dipped in honey. Before eating the apple, we make the ha’eitz blessing and then say, “May it be Your will to renew for us a good and sweet year.” Fish Head and PomegranatesMany people eat parts of the head of a fish or a ram, expressing the wish that “we be a head and not a tail.” In many communities, there are additional traditional foods eaten, each symbolizing a wish for the coming year. Many eat pomegranates, giving voice to a wish that “our merits be many like the [seeds of the] pomegranate.” Another common food is tzimmes, a sweet, carrot-based dish eaten because of its Yiddish name, merren, which means both “carrot” and “increase,” symbolizing a wish for a year of abundance. (Read about the elaborate array of symbolic foods eaten in Sephardic communities here.)
|
