Practices in JudaismRosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur

There are many holy days in Judaism, with the most important being Rosh Hashanah, which is the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

Rosh Hashanah

The Jewish festival of Rosh Hashanah occurs in September or October, depending on the lunar calendar that is followed by Jews. 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 with prayers being said and parts of the Torah read.

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

It is believed 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 the 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. People can do charity work or anything they feel will make up for the harm they have caused over the past year.

A cleansing ceremony called the Tashlich takes place during Rosh Hashanah. At this ceremony, sins are cast out (or ‘thrown away’) and people ask for God’s forgiveness.

Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. It is also called the Day of Atonement. Jews focus on asking God for forgiveness as it is believed that he will make his final judgement on the day of Yom Kippur sometime in the future.