Jewish people all over the world marked the New Year – Rosh Hashanah, which is linked to the Jewish belief that the world was created on that day.
During the first day of the holiday, believers go to the river with fish. They say their prayers, and throw bread in the water, which symbolizes rejection of sins.
During the first two days of the holiday, it is forbidden to work, except to prepare food. Everyone dresses solemnly, and white clothes are preferable, and everyone goes to the synagogue to pray for the forgiveness, which is prayed for all ten days until Yom Kippur.
Parents bless their children, and the mother burns the candle together with a holiday blessing, and if the feast falls on the Shabbat, then there are no candles.
New Year’s Eve dinner takes places in a form of family gathering, and not massive as it is the case in the rest of the world during the New Year’s Eve celebration. It is a costume for dinner to start with an apple and honey which symbolizes a sweet year.
Traditionally, on the dining table are found various fruits, and special prayers are prayed for each one of them. It is obligatory to offer honey, peas, carrots, spinach, beans, a head of fish, zucchini and dates.
This year, Rosh Hashanah begins at sunset on Sunday, Sept. 29, and ends two days later at sunset on Tuesday, Oct. 1. It’s the start of the Jewish month of Tishrei, or Tishri, which falls in September or October, according to the Gregorian calendar. It’s the first month of the civil year for Jews or the seventh month of the ecclesiastical year. Some years, Rosh Hashanah can start in early September or as late as early October.
Rosh Hashanah is congratulated in a simple form: “Sana tova! – Happy or Good New Year”. Believers in Israel and the world congratulate the New Year with the expression “Lesana tova tikateva!” – May the New Year be written to you!
