Coronation, Teshuvah and Shofar

In commenting on the verse, “Seek the L-rd while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near,”1 our Rabbis note:2 “These are the ten days between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur.” These days are commonly referred to as the Aseres Yimei Teshuvah , the “Ten Days of Penitence.” This comment needs to be clarified: “Between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur” implies that Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur are not part of the ten-day count,3 while

Coronation, Teshuvah and Shofar

The festival of Rosh Hashanah --the name means "Head of the Year" --is observed for two days beginning on Tishrei 1, the first day of the Jewish year. It is the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, and their first actions toward the realization of mankind's role in G-d's world. Rosh Hashanah thus emphasizes the special relationship between G-d and humanity: our dependence upon G-d as our creator and sustainer, and G-d's dependence upon us as the ones who make His presence

Services at a Glance

Evening Service
The evening services of both nights of Rosh Hashanah are relatively brief, in most synagogues they don't last longer than half an hour. The service starts with the Barchu, and continues with the Shema and the blessings which precede and follow it. All throughout, the chazzan (cantor), together with the congregation sing a haunting tune which is reserved for the High Holiday evening services. The special Rosh Hashanah Amidah is then recited, followed by the recitation of Psalm 24 and the Aleinu.

When Rosh Hashanah occurs on Shabbat, say all the pre-Shabbat Kiddush prayers (such as Shalom Aleichem and Aishet Chayil) in an undertone before starting Kiddush.
On the second night of Rosh Hashanah, it is customary to place a new fruit [not yet eaten this season] before the one who makes Kiddush; he is to glance at it while reciting the Shehecheyanu ("Who has granted us life...") blessing , bearing in mind that it applies to the new fruit as well.

Stand while reciting the Kiddush. Those listening to the Kiddush should respond "Amen" as indicated.

Al Har Sinai

By Moshe Bogomilsky

When You our King, revealed Yourself upon Mount Sinai to teach Your people Torah and its precepts -- from the Rosh Hashanah Musaf Amidah Why did G-d give the Torah while the Jews were still in the wilderness and not wait till after they arrived in the land of Israel? The Talmud1 relates that Alexander the Great put forth ten questions to the elders of the South. One of the questions was "Were the heavens created first or the earth?" They replied,

Head and Beginning

There is nothing arbitrary about a name given in the Holy Tongue: the very letters that constitute such a name disclose the intrinsic nature of the entity named.1 The name of the New Year festival, “Rosh HaShanah,” literally means not “beginning of the year,” but “head of the year.” I.e., the rela¬tionship of Rosh HaShanah to the other days of the year2 parallels the relationship of the head to the other organs of the body.

The Paradox of Our Prayers

The machzor for Rosh HaShanah contains many prayers which petition G d that (for example) “we be remembered and inscribed in the Book of life, blessing, peace and prosperity....” In addition to these communal prayers, many people add personal requests for various material blessings. Is it proper to pray for these things? Our Sages1 teach that on Rosh HaShanah G d asks mankind to “proclaim Me as King over you.”

“Today the World was Born”

Rosh HaShanah recalls the creation of the world, as we see from the prayer,1 “Today the world was born.” According to our Sages,2 however, the world was created on the 25th of Elul, so that Rosh HaShanah actually marks the sixth day of creation, the day on which G d created man. Why do we commemorate the creation of man and not the creation of the whole world? This is especially strange, given that the creation of the world demonstrates G d’s abso¬lute power in His unique ability to create something from nothing.