Rosh Hashanah: Your guide to the Jewish new year holiday - explainer

Rosh Hashanah is the beginning of the Jewish New Year, in this case, 5785, and kicks off the High Holy Days. It is an important two-day holiday that focuses on long prayer services in synagogue, spending time with family, and praying for repentance as God judges you for the year and writes his judgment in the Book of Life.

Naturally, the Rosh Hashanah holiday, also known as Yom Teruah, is associated with a number of different religious symbols, obligations, customs, and traditions formed over thousands of years. 

The most famous of these are Rosh Hashanah foods like apples and honey and the famous blowing of the shofar.

But what is Rosh Hashanah, and how is it celebrated?

Here is everything you need to know.

What is the meaning of Rosh Hashanah?

As stated earlier, Rosh Hashanah is the holiday marking the beginning of the Jewish calendar year.

Specifically it marks the end of the Month of Elul and begins the Month of Tishrei.

However, rather than just celebrating the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah has a far more solemn role as the beginning of the Ten Days of Repentance, which lasts from the start of Rosh Hashanah until Yom Kippur.

These days are important as they are a time of atonement and reflection. One says teshuva to repent for any of their sins and to be inscribed positively in the Book of Life by God. 

This, in turn, is related to the traditional greeting used on Rosh Hashanah.

What are the Rosh Hashanah holiday greetings?

Rather than simply saying "chag sameach" for a happy holiday, Rosh Hashanah greetings are either "shana tova," meaning Happy New Year; "shana tova umetuka," meaning have a Happy and Sweet New Year; and "ketiva ve'hatima tova," meaning a good inscription and sealing in the Book of Life; and "l'shana tova tikatevu ve'tihatemu," meaning may you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.

Once Rosh Hashanah ends, however, the traditional greeting is "gmar hatima tovah," meaning a good final sealing in the Book of Life until Yom Kippur ends.

But alternatively, one can just say Happy Rosh Hashanah. 

What are Rosh Hashanah's foods and dinner traditions?

There are a few traditional foods associated with Rosh Hashanah. The most well-known is the apple and honey, which is meant to signify a happy and sweet new year. However, there are others, such as round challah bread, pomegranates, and fish heads. 

These all relate to another tradition held by many for Rosh Hashanah: the symbolic foods known as the simanim, which are eaten at the Rosh Hashanah seder. These simanim can vary from family to family, but a few commonly-seen food items include beets, pumpkins, beans, leeks, gourds, spinach, and dates. These are mostly all derived from the Talmud.

Another tradition is to eat a new fruit or food to ensure one can say the shehecheyanu blessing.

What are Rosh Hashanah prayers?

The prayer services for Rosh Hashanah are very long and last several hours. Unlike most of the year, the hazzan's (cantor's) repetition of the Shmona Esrei does not repeat the same prayers word-for-word. Rather, the repetition is much longer and includes several long and elaborate songs and serious prayers.

One of the most famous additions to the prayer services of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is Unetanneh Tokef, a centuries-old piyyut said during the Kedusha portion of the hazzan's repetition of Musaf. The piyyut reflects on God's awe-inspiring and eternal nature, the fear of judgment as our fates are sealed, and how we are helpless before God and pray for mercy.

But undoubtedly, the most famous part of Rosh Hashanah prayers is blowing the shofar.

This is where the holiday's other name, Yom Teruah, comes from. 

A total of 100 shofar blasts are traditionally heard each day of Rosh Hashanah, which are divided into several different types of blasts. 

• Tekiah, where the shofar is blown once for a single blast
• Shevarim, where the shofar is blown three times for three shorter blasts
• Teruah, where the shofar is blown nine times for nine very short and fast blasts
• Tekiah gedolah, where the shofar is blown for one very long extended single blast

The shofar blasts are incredibly important, and one must hear them as part of their obligations for Rosh Hashanah. However, they are not blown on a day when Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbat.

Another important Rosh Hashanah ritual is tashlich, when bread is ceremonially thrown into a body of water to cast off our sins ritualistically. 

The exact origin of this ritual is unknown. While it is widely accepted today by mainstream Jewish streams, it has traditionally held considerable opposition, with some finding it heathenistic and others saying it violates commandments against feeding wild animals during the holiday.

Rosh Hashanah 2024 dates and times:

Rosh Hashanah differs from other Jewish holidays in that it always lasts for two consecutive days. Most Jewish holidays only have two consecutive days in the Diaspora, while in Israel, they last just one day.

So when does Rosh Hashanah start in 2024?

This year, Rosh Hashanah starts on the evening of October 2 and ends on the evening of October 3. Typically, the next day, the third day of Tishrei, is the fast day known as the Fast of Gedaliah. However, in 2024, Rosh Hashanah ends on a Friday night, which means it immediately rolls into Shabbat. Because of that, not only is this year a de facto three-day yom tov, but the Fast of Gedaliah is pushed off until Sunday, October 6, as no fast day other than Yom Kippur can be on Shabbat.

Here are the times for Rosh Hashanah in 2024, when the Hebrew year of 5784 ends and the new year of 5785 begins.

Remember that candle lighting refers to the start of the first day of Rosh Hashanah, and the ending time, while usually referring to when it ends on the second day, will instead refer to when Shabbat ends the day after.

All zmanim are taken from the Orthodox Union calendar. 

New York

Candle lighting at: 6:17 p.m.

Rosh Hashanah ends at: 7:13 p.m.

Los Angeles

Candle lighting at: 6:17 p.m.

Rosh Hashanah ends at: 7:13 p.m.

Jerusalem

Candle lighting at: 6:04 p.m.

Rosh Hashanah ends at: 7:01 p.m.

Tel Aviv

Candle lighting at: 6:06 p.m.

Rosh Hashanah ends at: 7:02 p.m.

Haifa

Candle lighting at: 6:05 p.m.

Rosh Hashanah ends at: 7:01 p.m.

Beersheba

Candle lighting at: 6:06 p.m.

Rosh Hashanah ends at: 7:03 p.m.