This past week, Jews around the world, myself included, celebrated the holiday of Rosh Hashanah. Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish new year, and, in my opinion, one of the most joyous holidays we celebrate. Growing up in my Conservative Jewish community, I always celebrated the holiday with a large group of friends and family surrounding me.
Admittedly, as a young child and a teenager as well, my parents had to drag me to synagogue to sit through the day-long service held during Rosh Hashanah. Sitting for hour upon hour listening to the rabbi recite prayers welcoming in the new year, I would often get irritable, wanting to get home in order to eat the Rosh Hashanah feast all the mothers in the community prepare together at one of their houses. But as I got older and more mature, I began having a new appreciation for Rosh Hashanah, the themes, meanings, and traditions of the holiday, and the community I was celebrating it with.
The translation for Rosh Hashanah is literally "Head of the Year". However, the more technical Jewish meaning of the holiday, is the celebration of the anniversary of the creation of the first man and woman: Adam and Eve. In addition to this, it celebrates Adam and Eve's realization of the role of mankind in the world. Subsequently, Rosh Hashanah is a great holiday for taking appreciation for the special relationship between God and His people.
There are several observances that are associated with Rosh Hashanah that make the holiday extra special. The first is the blowing of the shofar, which is a ram's horn. When blown into correctly, the horn emits a loud trumpet-like noise. Over the course of the holiday the shofar is sounded a hundred times. Throughout all the Jewish services that I have been to over the course of my life, the blowing of the shofar is something I always pay special attention. I marvel over the rabbi, his precision with counting out the bursts of sound, and how he has enough lung capacity to make it through the entire sounding without passing out. If you have never tried blowing through a ram's horn in order to make a sound, let me be the first to tell you, it is not the simplest of tasks.
Since it is a Jewish holiday, and there's an unwritten rule that all Jewish holidays have to be paired with some sort of delicacy or treat, there is of course the tradition of dipping apples in honey. Placed on the table in every Jewish home during Rosh Hashanah is a little bowl of honey and apple slices. You are supposed to take the apple slice, dunk it in the honey, and eat it in order to symbolize our desire to have a sweet new year.
Memories of growing up observing religious holidays are some of the sweetest and most meaningful in my life. Rosh Hashanah is an especially great time of year to be a part of the Jewish community, because no matter what has transpired throughout the past year, the message of the holiday is welcoming in a new year filled with happiness and love. Welcoming in the new Jewish year with any Jewish community, whether it be the one you grew up in or a new one that you are just becoming acquainted with, you are bound to feel like you are with family. So, L'Shanah Tovah everyone, Happy New Year and may it be full of sweet, sweet memories!
