How to Celebrate Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year celebration that marks the beginning of the Jewish High Holiday season. It is a time of great celebration and reflection. Celebrating this holiday is a wonderful time to get together with your family and can be a lot of fun.

Instructions

1. Find a synagogue or temple near you to attend services. Every Jewish temple and synagogue holds Rosh Hashanah services. It is widely considered the first or second most popular service of the entire year. Because of this, demand for attendance is high, and seats can be difficult to come by. If you belong to a temple, inquire about tickets to Rosh Hashanah services as early as possible. If you do not belong to a temple or synagogue, call around to your local temples. Some may have a members-only policy for the High Holy Day services, in which case you may need to do a little more research. Oftentimes, services given in community centers are free of charge and open to all. Your local temple will have more information on these local services.

2. Make and eat festive foods of the celebration. Rosh Hashanah is a time of sweet celebration, and the foods that are made and eaten during this celebration reflect that. Sweets are customary to eat during Rosh Hashanah, especially those made with apples and honey. These foods are eaten to remind the observant to think forward to a New Year full of sweet promise and potential. If you are making sweets for yourself and your family, apple pie, honey cake and sweetened breads are traditional.

3. Start your celebration at home before temple to truly get into the spirit of the New Year. Many families have traditions that begin before their trip to temple. One significant tradition is the throwing of bread into a body of water. If you and your family live near a river or lake, take a quick trip there together. Throwing bits of bread into the water symbolizes letting the trials and tribulations of the past year go and welcoming in the New Year. Start your own family traditions that speak to all of you personally. The most important thing about celebrating Rosh Hashanah is to do it with those you love within the community you care about. After all, that's what the promise of the New Year is really all about.