Creation and judgement
Rosh Hashanah, literally "head of the year", is the first day of the Jewish new year. In the Bible, it is called Yom Truah, the day of the trumpets. This day commemorates the creation of the world and man but it also remembers God's judgment. According to the Jewish tradition on the day of Rosh Hashanah, God opens the judgement books in heaven and weighs the previous year’s deeds of each one. Everyone's fate will be eventually sealed ten days later on Yom Kippur. For this reason, the time between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is marked by a deep reflection and repentance and reparation for one’s faults.
New Year’s Wishes
On Rosh Hashana everyone exchanges greetings saying: "Have a good year" (Shana Tova) but also "May we be inscribed (in the Book of Life) for a good year". It is believed that during that time God decides who will leave this world during the year that has just begun. In the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the wishes take a different form: May you be inscribed (in the Book of Life) and sealed for a good year". The sounds of the shofar, or trumpets, during the holiday prayers and during the following days of penance are here to stimulate the soul and contribute to its spiritual revival.
Tashlikh
In the afternoon or the evening of Rosh Hashanah, there is a custom to go to a river or a natural body of water to participate in a ceremony called Tashlikh, during which pockets are symbolically emptied as a sign of getting rid of personal sins. This tradition comes from the Book of Micah where we read: “You shall cast all their sins into the depths of the sea” (Michah 7,19). The ceremony takes place close the water also because the fish that live in it do not close their eyes, which is a reference to God's eyes that are always open and see all human deeds.
Rosh Hashanah in Talmud
Rav Kruspedai said in the name of Rav Yochanan: Three books are opened [before the Heavenly Tribunal] on Rosh Hashanah – one for the unquestionably wicked, one for the unquestionably righteous and one for those between [these extremes]. The unquestionably righteous are immediately inscribed and sealed for life, the unquestionably wicked are immediately inscribed and sealed for death. [But the judgement of] those between stands abeyance from Rosh Hashanah until Yom Kippur. If they are not found worthy, they are inscribed for death. (Rosh Hashanah 6b).
New Year supper
There is a festive meal on the evening of Rosh Hashana. The dishes that are served have a symbolic meaning related to the holiday. On the New Year's table we will find a round challah showing the continuity of each year and the repetitive nature of the seasons. Challah and apples also found on the table are dipped in honey, which is a metaphor for God's blessing and the desire for the coming year to be filled with sweetness. There are also dates. Their Hebrew meaning can be translated as “the bitterness will end.” Pomegranates with their numerous seeds symbolize the multitude of good deeds that we can accomplish every year. The festive atmosphere fills the homes and souls with hope but it also calls everyone to turn to God in order to receive the grace to be the ones He really wants us to be.
About the author
Sr Eliana Kuryło CB – an English teacher and translator by education, a tutor of ancient Hebrew at the Biblical Institute in Toulouse. She led Bible workshops at the student chaplaincies in New Zealand and Toulouse, France. She has been involved in Jewish-Christian dialogue for many years. She is currently the superior of the sisters at the Community of the Beatitudes in Emmaus-Nicopolis, Israel.