...In the seventh month, on the first of the month, there shall be a sabbath for you, a remembrance with shofar blasts, a holy convocation. -Leviticus 16:24

Rosh Hashanah (“head of the year”) falls on the first and second days of Tishri, which this year corresponds to September 23rd and 24th. The name Rosh Hashanah is not used to discuss the holiday in the bible (although, confusingly, it is used in reference to Yom Kippur in Ezekiel 40:1), which is instead called Yom Hazikaron (“day of  remembrance”), Yom Ha-Din (“day of judgment”), or Yom Teruah (“day of sounding the shofar”).  However by the time the Jews returned to build the second temple in the fourth century, the term was already commonly in use and the day had taken on the serious focus that it has now – emphasizing judgment and personal redemption.

These themes are emphasized in the Torah portion that is read, which tells of Abraham who offers to sacrifice his son Isaac to prove his obedience to God. His willingness is rewarded when a ram appears and is sacrificed instead, an event that is believed to have occurred on the first of Tishri. This ram is symbolized by the shofar (ram’s horn) which was traditionally blown to herald important events.

The shofar plays a big part in the celebration of the holiday. A total of 100 notes are sounded each day in four difference configurations: tekiah (a three-second sustained note); shevarim (three one-second notes); turuah (three-seconds of short, staccato notes); and tekiah gedolah (a long, sustained note).

Strangely enough for a holiday that begins a year, Tishri is actually the seventh month of the Jewish calendar, the first month being Nissan (March or April). Historically, there are four new years in the Jewish calendar: Nissan 1, the new year for counting the months on the calendar and the reigning years of kings; Elul 1 (August), the new year at which offerings are made based on value of animals; Shevat 15 (February), the new year for trees (and for offerings based on fruit yields), and Tishri 1 (Rosh Hashanah), the new year for years – when the annual number is increased (this year from 5766 to 5767). This is also, biblically, the day that humanity was created.

Because Rosh Hashanah is viewed as a day of cleansing in preparation for the judgment that will follow on Yom Kippur, and to honor the dictate: “You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea, and may You cast all the sins of Your people, the house of Israel, into a place where they shall be no more remembered or visited or ever come to mind.” (Micah 7:18- 20), many practice Tashlikh (“casting off”), the practice of emptying pockets or throwing crumbs into flowing water to symbolically cast off sins.

This casting off is part of the self-examination and repentance that is at the heart of the Yamim Noraim (“days of awe”) that begin with Rosh Hashanah and end with Yom Kippur. The central theme to the days rests on the idea that God inscribes the names of each individual in a book, listing who will live, who will die, who will have a good year and who will have a bad year. Although the books are written on Rosh Hashanah, we are given the option to practice teshuvah (repentance), tefilah (prayer), and tzedakah (charity) in order to improve our lot before the books are sealed on Yom Kippur. Hence the greeting we offer you, L'shanah tovah tikatevi v’taihatemi ("May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year").