ROSH HASHANAH (HEAD OF THE YEAR)

^23rd – 24th September 2025

Jewish

(New Year’s Day, 5780 years from the creation of the world). Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of ten days of repentance and self examination, during which God sits in personal judgment on every individual. The blowing of the ram’s horn (shofar) in the synagogue is a reminder of Abraham’s sacrifice of a ram instead of his son, Isaac. Apples dipped in honey are eaten in the hope of a ‘sweet’ new year. The greeting is ‘Leshanah Tovah Tikatev’ (may you be inscribed for a good year).

The sequence of repentance that Rosh Hashanah starts accentuates the Jewish conviction that God forgives the sincere penitent – that He is a merciful judge. While that does not relieve each person of the responsibility to accept the consequences – including punishment – for their actions, it means that Jews do not see people as essentially ‘sinners’, merely ‘people who inevitably sin and must repent’. The mood is solemn in synagogue, but it is not sad at all. Everyone present knows that this happens every year, but that does not relieve them of the need to try again. At the same time, the haunting notes of the shofar make the festival somehow timeless and simple. Unlike many other Jewish festivals, there are very few practices or customs associated with the day, though it is very widely observed and families frequently travel long distances to gather for the festive meals.

Genesis 22, Leviticus 23:24-25.