What is Rosh Hashanah?

In the Torah

The Torah calls it “a day of blowing the horn” (Numbers 29:1) and “a memorial proclaimed with the blast of horns, a holy gathering” (Leviticus 23:24), on the first day of the seventh month. The name Rosh Hashanah – “head of the year” – comes from the Mishnah, which counts 1 Tishrei as the new year for years.

A day of judgement

The Mishnah teaches that on Rosh Hashanah “all who come into the world pass before Him like sheep”. The ten days from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur are the Days of Repentance. The prayers centre on three themes: God’s kingship (Malchuyot), His remembrance of His creatures (Zichronot) and the shofar (Shofarot).

The shofar

The central mitzvah is to hear the shofar, a ram’s horn: 100 blasts in most synagogues, in three sounds – tekiah, shevarim and teruah. Maimonides describes it as a wake-up call: “Awake, you sleepers, from your sleep.” When Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbat, the shofar is not blown on that day.

At home

Festive meals include round challah, apple in honey and other “simanim” – pomegranate, dates, a fish or lamb’s head – each with a short wish. The Shulchan Aruch records the custom. On the first afternoon many go to a river or sea for Tashlich, a prayer symbolically casting away sins.

Two days

Rosh Hashanah is kept for two days everywhere, including Israel. The greeting is “Shanah tovah” or “Ketivah vachatimah tovah”. See our Rosh Hashanah guide.