High Holy Days
The metro-area Jewish faith community is preparing for Rosh Hashana, which marks the beginning of the Jewish High Holy Days.
The rabbi looked around the circle of youths with confidence.
“What do we know about Rosh Hashana?” she said.
Almost every young person sitting in the Temple B’nai Israel fellowship hall raised a hand, eager to show Rabbi Vered Harris their knowledge of the coming Jewish holiday.
“We eat food!” Kate Craine said. “Food? What food?” Harris, the temple’s spiritual leader, said to the girl.
“We eat apples and honey!” Kate said, earning a nod of affirmation from the rabbi.
Harris, other metro-area rabbis and their congregations are preparing for Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, which begins at sundown on Sunday.
It marks the beginning of the High Holy Days, the 10 days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
The traditions and customs of Rosh Hashana took center stage during a Hebrew School session on Wednesday at Temple B’nai, 4901 N Pennsylvania.
Most of the young people gathered with Harris seemed to know all about the holiday. As Kate mentioned, many Jewish families drizzle honey over apples to symbolize their wish for a sweet new year.
Miles Yaffe told Harris that Rosh Hashana is “like New Year’s Day in Israel.”
Ruby Harris, one of the rabbi’s daughters, said the shofar would be blown, too. The shofar, a ram’s horn, is blown at Rosh Hashana services to signify that the holy days have arrived.
Families will eat challah, a bread typically eaten on the Sabbath, that has been baked in a circle instead of braided to symbolize the desire that the coming year rolls around smoothly, without sorrow.
Many Jewish congregations host Tashlich ceremonies. Tashlich means “casting off” in Hebrew. The water ritual traditionally is held on the afternoon of Rosh Hashana.
As part of the Tashlich ceremony, individuals symbolically toss their sins into a pool of water, traditionally an open body of water like a pond, river or lake. In New York City, many Jews perform the ritual from the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges.
Meanwhile, the holy days are filled with festivities but also include a more solemn period.
Yom Kippur, considered the most sacred day of the year, begins at sundown Sept. 18 and is marked by solemnity. The holiday is an opportunity to review past deeds and ask forgiveness for sins. The Book of Jonah, filled with themes of repentance and forgiveness, is traditionally read during Yom Kippur services.