Rosh ha-Shanah

Rosh ha-Shanah [Heb.,=head of the year], the Jewish New Year, also known as the Feast of the Trumpets. It is observed on the first day of the seventh month, Tishri, occurring usually in September. Rosh ha-Shanah is held in great reverence as the Day of Judgment (Yom ha-Din), the beginning of the 10-day period concluding with Yom Kippur and known as the "Days of Awe," during which, according to tradition, all the people of the earth pass before the Lord and are marked in the "Book of Life" or in the "Book of Death." A distinguishing feature of the New Year is the blowing of the shofar (a ram's horn), which summons Jews to penitential observance. Orthodox and Conservative Jews celebrate Rosh ha-Shanah for two days; most Reform congregations celebrate the first day.

Bibliography: See L. Jacobs, A Guide to Rosh ha-Shanah (1969).

Rosh ha-Shanah. A tractate of the Jewish Talmud. The tractate deals with the laws and customs of the various New Years in the Jewish Calendar.

Rosh ha-Shanah (Heb., ‘New Year’). The Jewish New Year. Rosh ha-Shanah is celebrated on 1 Tishri (and 2 in the diaspora). The four names of the festival in the Jewish tradition reflect the various themes of the day: Rosh ha-Shanah, Yom Teruʾah (‘Day of Blowing the Horn’ (shofar)), Yom ha-Din (‘Day of Judgement’), and Yom ha-Zikkaron (‘Day of Remembrance’). On the first afternoon, the Tashlikh ceremony is often performed, although there is no reference to this in the Talmud.