Jewish Community Welcomes a New Year

Wednesday at sundown, the Jewish community began celebrating a New Year, and the celebration lasts until sundown Friday.

Rosh Hashanah literally means “head of the year," said Sara Sobel of Temple B’nai Chaim in Georgetown, CT. “It falls once a year during the Hebrew month of Tishrei, 10 days before Yom Kippur—‘the day of atonement,’” Sobel continued.

“Together, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are referred to as the Yamim Nora’im, or the Days of Awe. In English, they are commonly known as the High Holy Days.”

The holiday is “one of Judaism’s holiest days” as it “commemorates the creation of the world and marks the beginning of the Days of Awe, a 10-day period of introspection and repentance that culminates with Yom Kippur,” she said.

On Rosh Hashanah, Jews “attend synagogue as a community and greet each other with the Hebrew phrase, ‘L’shanah Toyah,’ which translates [to] ‘for a good year,’” Sobel said.

“We eat apples dipped in honey to signify the hope that the new year will be sweet.” Sobel said the Jewish community also eats challah, a bread baked into a round shape instead of customary braided loaf, “to symbolize the cyclical nature of life.”