Rosh Hashanah
FestivalJewish
No rule yet
Nobody has written a rule for this observance yet, so the calendar does not put it on a day. A name with a made-up date beside it would be worse than a name on its own.
In short
Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year, observed from sunset on 1 Tishrei for two days. It opens the Ten Days of Repentance with prayer, shofar calls where permitted, festive meals and reflection on how to repair relationships.
The story
Rosh Hashanah marks the Jewish New Year and begins the High Holy Days, a period devoted to moral reflection and return. Jewish tradition understands the day as both a celebration of creation and a time of divine judgment, when people examine the year that has passed and consider how they should live differently. The most distinctive ritual is the sounding of the shofar, usually a ram’s horn, whose sharp calls are meant to awaken conscience. Synagogue prayers emphasize God’s sovereignty, remembrance and accountability. At home, meals often include apples dipped in honey and other foods expressing the hope for a sweet year. Some communities practise tashlich, symbolically casting away wrongdoing near flowing water. Rosh Hashanah is joyful but not carefree: its celebration is balanced by introspection, apology and the decision to repair relationships. It opens the Ten Days of Repentance that lead to Yom Kippur.
Rosh Hashanah begins at sunset on the first of the Hebrew month of Tishrei and is observed for two days, including in Israel. Jewish tradition connects it with the beginning of a new year and the divine assessment of human actions. It opens the Ten Days of Repentance leading to Yom Kippur. The shofar is not blown on Shabbat under mainstream traditional Jewish law, so the number of blasts and schedule are not identical every year. Festive meals can include apple and honey, pomegranate, round challah and symbolic foods called simanim, with differences among Jewish communities. The season asks for real repair of harm, not simply a symbolic gesture.
Why it matters
Jewish New Year and beginning of the Ten Days of Repentance; combines renewal, divine judgment, prayer and ethical accountability.
What people do
Synagogue prayers and shofar sounding on non-Sabbath days, festive meals with symbolic foods and sometimes tashlich. Exact shofar counts and customs vary.
Told differently elsewhere
Two days in Jewish communities including Israel, beginning on 1 Tishrei at sunset; Sephardi, Mizrahi and Ashkenazi food customs differ.