Rosh Hashanah - The Jewish New Year Date. The Festival falls on the first and second days of the Hebrew month of Tishri. From early times, it was observed for two days, even in Eretz Yisra'el. In this, Rosh Hashanah is unlike those other festivals which are kept only for one day in Israel. Names Rosh Hashanah - "The New Year." Rosh Hashanah is the most popular name of all. Although it is the seventh month of the year, Tishri was regarded as most appropriate for spiritual reflection, since it is the autumn month in the land of its origin. Nature has finished the year's cycle; the harvests are gathered in and there is a short period of rest before the annual tasks are re- commenced. Further, the mystics taught that the act of the creation of the universe was commenced at this time. Yom Hadin - "The Day of Judgment." The Festival is an occasion for self-examination in the light of the teachings of the Jewish religion. One's conscience is laid bare before God who is said to review each individual in judgement. Yom Hazikaron - "The Day of Memorial." References are made in the Prayer Book to God who remembers every living creature on this "Day of Memorial." Yom Teruah - "The Day of Sounding the Shofar" (Numbers 29:1). This is the original biblical name for the festival. Observances. The observances of the day and the liturgy in the synagogue are designed to help people reflect seriously upon the year gone by. Ten Days of Penitence. Rosh Hashanah also inaugurates a period of Ten Days of Penitence, which climaxes on the 10th Tishri - Yom Kippur. Customs in the Synagogue The Shofar. The shofar is the most important symbol indicating the solemn lessons of this day. It is sounded on both days of the Festival, but not on Shabbat. The purpose of sounding the shofar has expressed by the great medieval Jewish teacher, Maimonides, who wrote that the notes of the shofar are intended to proclaim the need for an immediate spiritual revival. Among the other reasons for blowing the shofar, we may include: The shofar was sounded on important occasions in the Jewish calendar, such as the beginning of a war or the Jubilee Year. The shofar reminds us of the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai when it was sounded to mark the end of the Divine Revelation. The shofar links the day with the sacrifice of Isaac, when a ram with curved horns took the place of Isaac on the altar. (The account of this sacrifice has had a central place in Jewish thought because it portrays the willingness of the Jew to "offer" himself to God's service.) The shofar is a reminder of the Day of Judgement, of the coming of the Messiah and the Resurrection. Wearing white. The Scrolls of the Law and the ark are bedecked in white vestments, and white robes are worn by the officiants (and occasionally by other worshippers). The color white represents the ideals of purity and nearness to God, and it enhances the religious solemnities of the day. Customs in the Synagogue A number of family customs add a symbolic touch to the observance of the Festival. Apple and Honey. After Kiddush on the Festival and before commencing the meal, a piece of apple is dipped in honey and eaten after saying an appropriate prayer for a good and sweet year. Connected with this custom, sour or pickled foods are generally avoided on this day as being inappropriate to the nature of the Festival. Shehecheyanu blessing. It is customary for some seasonal fruit, not previously eaten during the year, to be kept aside for the second night of Rosh Hashanah for the recital of Shehecheyanu, the blessing recited on enjoying new things. One also ends to buy new handsome clothes to wear for this holiday. Special Challah. In some households where the women bake their own bread it is usual to make the plaited crust shaped in the form of a ladder to signify our earnest aspirations upwards to God on those days. General Customs Greetings. New Year greeting cards have become very popular in recent times. The standard greeting for the Festival is Leshanah tova tikateivu - "May you be inscribed for a good year". Tashlich. Dating to the Middle Ages is the custom of Tashlich. In the afternoon of the first day (or on the second day if the first be Shabbat) pious Jews go to the bank of a river and recite brief prayers containing a reference to the forgiving God who "casts our sins into the depths of the sea" (Tashlich -"to cast").