Lesser Known Facts About ROSH HASHANAH

Although considered to be the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah does not mean “New Year” in Hebrew. The translation is actually “Head of the Year.” Just like your head (or more specifically, your brain) tells your body what to do, your actions and behavior on Rosh Hashanah have far-reaching consequences for the entire year.

Among the many blessings in Deuteronomy 28 we read, “God will make you the head, not the tail,” and it is customary in some communities at the meal on the night of Rosh Hashanah to recite this blessing, ending it with the words, “may it be so.”

It is also customary to then eat the head of a fish, but for those who are squeamish you can substitute gummy fish or fish-shaped crackers for the real thing.

Pomegranates, apples and honey are all foods that are symbolic to the holiday of Rosh Hashanah.

Every pomegranate is believed to contain 613 seeds. This number just happens to be identical to the number of mitzvot (commandments) in the Torah. So, eating a pomegranate can be a symbolic way to display the desire to fulfill the mitzvot.

The pomegranate is also written about in the Bible as one of the seven species identified within the land of Israel, and the fruit is depicted on the Temple King Solomon built in Jerusalem. We all know that eating apples dipped in honey helps make the new year a sweet one. But did you know that the opposite holds true as well? If you refrain from eating pickles, lemons and other sour foods at this time, you most certainly will avoid an unpleasant year ahead.

The first morning of Rosh Hashanah can be Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Shabbat –never Sunday, Wednesday or Friday. If Rosh Hashanah were to fall on a Friday, Yom Kippur would fall on a Sunday. But since Yom

Kippur shouldn’t fall on the day before or after Shabbat, as two consecutive days when preparing food and burying the dead is prohibited, this could be problematic.

While Rosh Hashanah is considered a happy holiday, it is also a time for renewal, reflection and thanks. So while in many ways it is an uplifting holiday, and many attend synagogue, it is not celebrated with raucous parties as is often the case on the December 31 New Year’s Eve.

Even though napping on Shabbat is considered a physical pleasure and therefore a mitzvah (and a proper way to celebrate the day of rest), on Rosh Hashanah we make a point of not napping.

Some people will even stay awake at night so as not to waste a precious moment on something as trivial as shuteye. The Talmud states that if one sleeps at the beginning of the year – i.e., on Rosh Hashanah – his good fortune also sleeps.