The High Holidays

        The High Holidays

        Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, are the two most important holidays in the Jewish year and together, they are known as “The High Holy Days”. These two holidays are separated over the course of 10 days. Just like The High Holy Days, other holidays such as, Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot permit one to stop work completely. Americans start their new year in January, but on the Jewish calendar, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur happens in the lunar month of Tishri (Judaism 101). Tishri falls during September and October, is most likely to be the busiest time of the year for the Jewish holidays. During the first and second days of Tishri, Rosh Hashanah celebrates the New Year. The gap between Rosh Hashanaha and Yom Kippur are the “Days of Awe” and during this period judgement and repentance, forgiveness and spiritual renewal takes place. Eight days later, Yom Kippur begins the New Year with a Day of Atonement for ones own faults. In my analysis, I will relate how rituals portray the basic tenants of Jewish Theology^[1].

        The preparation for Rosh Hashanah is a big deal for the Jewish people. Elul, the month before Rosh Hashanah, is a time of repentance in preparation for the High Holy Days. The word “Elul” means “search,” which is appropriate, because this is a time of year when we search our hearts (Judaism 101). During this time weekday morning synagogue services include the blowing of the shofar, or ram’s horn. However, the shofar is not blown on Shabbat, Jewish Sabbath and day of rest and enrichment. It is also not blown on the day before Rosh Hashanah to make a clear distinction between the rabbinical rule^[2] of blowing the shofar in Elul and the biblical mitzvah^[3] to blow the shofar on Rosh Hashanah (Judaism 101). Four blasts are blown: tekiah, shevarim-teruah, tekiah. Four different types of shofar blasts punctuate the Rosh Hashanah ritual, each interpreted as signaling its own message. In The Jewish Way, author Irving Greenberg mentions that, “The sound of the shofar during the High Holy Days is meant to cut through the web of routine, rationalization, and indulgence; to wake up people and get them to take themselves and their actions as seriously as they deserve.” Elul is also a time to begin the process of asking forgiveness for wrongs done to other people. According to Jewish tradition, God cannot forgive us for sins committed against another person until we have first obtained forgiveness from the person we have wronged (Judaism 101).

        Beginning in the month before Rosh Hashanah, Jewish people wish one another a good year: “L’shana tovah!” Praying to the figurative image of the Book of Life in which one hopes to be inscribed for another year, they will extend the greeting, “May you be written and sealed for a good year” (Judaism 101). Certain customs signal this wish, such as eating apples or challah dipped in honey for a “sweet” year. During Rosh Hashanah, Jewish people to synagogue, reflect on life, and spend time with family. There’s also a variety of delicious Kosher food to be eaten, including the traditional combo of apples and honey. That mix is supposed to symbolize the hope that the new year will be sweet. A new fruit, usually pomegranate, a sweet carrot dish (tizimmes), honey cake, round Challah bread and other foods are also traditional.  Another custom is to send greeting cards to one’s relatives and friends.        Tashlikh is an important ritual of Rash Hashanah. It is a remarkable ceremony, figurative and concrete all at the same time. Through this ritual, we express not only our desire to be free from sin but our continuing hope that we will be forgiven for past misdeeds (Tashlikh: Casting Our Sins Away). On the afternoon of the first day of Rosh Hashanah, or on the second day, if the first day is a Shabbat, it is customary to go to a flowing body of water and to recite prayers while “casting” our sins (represented by bread crumbs) into the water. As read in Micah 7:19, “You will cast (tashlikh) all your sins into the depths of the sea.” It is said that during this time, one is to signify their hope that God will overlook their faults during the past year and grant ones favor in the year to come. The preferred “order” for the bodies of water is (l) the sea, (2) a river, (3) a lake, spring, or fountain (Tashlikh: Casting Our Sins Away). If there is no such water within walking distance; in the case of inclement weather; or if one did not perform the ceremony on Rosh Hashanah for any reason, then tashlikh may be performed at any time up to Yom Kippur. In some customs, the body of water visited should have fish in it. It has been suggested that this helps to remind us of our precarious existence and thus puts us in the mood to repent. However, the customs of how tashlikh may vary from where one celebrates it, but the main concept behind it is to rid themselves of sins.

        To mark the end of The Days of Awe, Yom Kippur pays tribute to the sacred covenant of the Jewish people through a Day of Atonement. Yom Kippur’s focus on atonement and is not festive. One is encouraged to reflect on their faults, apologize to people they’ve wronged, and generally think about all the things one wanted to do but failed to do over the past year. Even the non observant Jewish people show up to the synagogue and reflect during this sacred day. Yom Kippur is considered to be the most solemn day in the Jewish calendar as it is believed that this is when God decrees each Jew’s fate for the remainder of the year (Jewish Prisoner Services International). It is a day spent praying and fasting^[4] during which white garments are worn, some do charity work, and a special fifth worship service is added. The fast is believed to cleanse the body and spirit, not to serve as a punishment. Depending on the type of Jewish observe one is, there is restrictions on bathing, washing, using cosmetics, wearing leather shoes and sexual relations. These prohibitions are intended to prevent worshippers from focusing on material possessions and superficial comforts (Jewish Prisoner Services International). For this solemn time, an appropriate Yom Kippur greeting is “May you have an easy fast” (tzom kal). Since in the Jewish tradition days begin in the evening, all holy days, including Yom Kippur, begin with an evening service. The Yom Kippur evening service begins with the ritual singing of a beloved hymn, Kol Nidre.

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