Practices - OCR Rosh Hashanah

There are many holy days in Judaism. Rosh Hashanah is one of the most important. It is the Jewish New Year.

The Jewish festival of Rosh Hashanah occurs in September or October, depending on the lunar calendar (which Jews follow). It is a time for Jews to reflect on their year, including their good deeds and their bad deeds.

The shofar is blown to symbolise a call for repentance. Jews spend time in the synagogue, where prayers are said and parts of the Torah are read.

They also eat apples dipped in honey to represent the hope of a sweet new year. Historically, Jews believed that apples had healing powers, and this belief is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible.

Jews believe that on Rosh Hashanah God writes names into one of his three books. These are:

• the Book of Life, for those who are wholly good
• the Book of Death, for those who are truly evil
• an intermediate book, which is where most people’s names are written

Jews believe that they can influence which book God writes their name in if they take action during the festival. They can do charity work or anything they feel will make up for the harm they have caused over the past year.

The Tashlich ceremony takes place during Rosh Hashanah. At this ceremony, sins are cast out (or ‘thrown away’) and people ask for God’s forgiveness. The Book of Micah says: