Guide Note

The Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) occurs on the first and second days of the seventh month in the Jewish calendar (Tishri). Translated from Hebrew, Rosh Hashanah means "first of the year".¹

Fast Facts

1. One of the Jewish High Holidays
2. 2008 (Jewish Year 5769): Begins at sunset on September 29 and ends on October 1 at nightfall
3. No work is permitted
4. The common greeting for this holiday is L'shanah tovah ("for a good year")¹
5. The machzor, a special prayerbook, is used for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur due to the extensive liturgical changes for these holidays¹

1. Yom Hazikaron (Remembering): Telling and retelling Jewish stories and the reading of the Torah
2. Yom Hadin (Repentance): To reflect on mistakes made over the past year, seek the forgiveness from those who have been wronged and symbolically cast sins away during tashlich
3. Yom Teruah (The Shofar): The shofar (an animal horn blown like a trumpet) is blown by one person (a'al tekiah) while another person stands next to them and calls out variations of three different notes

1. Honey-dipped apple: Symbolizes a wish for sweet new year
2. Challah bread: The ladder-like ridges on the bread symbolizes the wish that the family's prayers ascend to heaven²
3. Pomegranate: The fruit is believed to have 613 seeds, which is the number of good deeds (mitzvot) the Jews, as a society, must perform²
4. Fish: Symbolizes fertility, prosperity and knowledge

• "Speak unto the children of Israel, saying: In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall be a solemn rest unto you, a memorial proclaimed with the blast of horns, a holy convocation."
• "Ye shall do no manner of servile work; and ye shall bring an offering made by fire unto the LORD."—Leviticus 23:24-25³

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