Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year. But, as opposed to the popular belief, Rosh Hashanah is not about joyfulness and merriment at all. On the contrary, it is a time of reconsideration, repentance, and hope for the future.

 Rosh Hashanah falls at the beginning of the month of Tishrei, the seventh month of the Jewish calendar. This calendar is lunisolar, which means that Jewish holidays are not fixed like those of the civil one.

 It was in the seventh month of Tishrei, according to the Jewish tradition, that God created the world, and it is from this year that the timing begins. It falls on the September-October of the Gregorian calendar.

 Rosh Hashanah literally means “the head of the year”. In 2020, this holiday falls on September 19. From this day begins the days count of the new Jewish year. According to the Talmud (Oral Law), this day every year, the God Almighty forms a judgment on mankind, determining what should happen to people in the coming year. A peculiar feature of Rosh Hashanah is the trumpeting of a bull’s horn (shofar) during synagogue prayer. For two days, Jews go to synagogue to pray and listen to the sacred sounds of a shofar crying out to the human conscience. The horn is blown in the synagogue during the morning prayer. Traditionally, the shofar should make three different sounds: a long, gradually decreasing sound; a short, plaintive and fragmentary one; and a sharp one. “The voice of the Trumpet” is herd in the upright position, it should be executed a hundred times a day. The shofar has never been a mere musical instrument for the Jews. Its sound should be perceived as a call to God’s judgment and a call for repentance.

 On the eve of the first feast of Rosh Hashanah and the night of the second one, candles are lit. The fulfillment of this commandment is basically entrusted to the woman, the mistress of the house, who lights candles for all family members.

 In the afternoon and in the evening of each of the two celebration days, a festive meal is arranged, which begins with the proclamation of the blessing for the bread. The whole family is gathered at feasts, and if possible, guests are invited. The traditional dishes for the holiday are pomegranate, fish (head should not be separated) as a symbol of supremacy in life, sliced ​​carrots which should remind of gold coins – a sign of well-being in the new year. It is absolutely forbidden to eat bitter and sour food, so that the next year would not bring sorrow and trouble. It is not customary to eat nuts, because the numerical meaning of the word “nut” in Hebrew is equivalent to the numerical meaning of the word “sin”. And sin cannot be mentioned at this time in any case.

 The wishes for the coming year should be the following: “May the Lord our God inscribe your name in the Book of Life!” and it is absolutely crucial to soak an apple and bread in honey to make the next year sweet.