Rosh Hashanah 5787: Welcoming the Jewish New Year

The Head of the Year

Rosh Hashanah, which means “head of the year” in Hebrew, is one of the most significant observances in the Jewish calendar. It commemorates the creation of Adam and Eve and is traditionally regarded as the birthday of the world. More than a simple new-year celebration, it is a day of reflection, judgment, and renewal — known also as Yom HaDin (the Day of Judgment) and Yom HaZikaron (the Day of Remembrance).

Together with Yom Kippur ten days later, Rosh Hashanah forms the Yamim Nora’im, the Days of Awe or High Holy Days. These ten days invite introspection: reviewing the past year, seeking forgiveness, repairing relationships, and setting intentions for the year ahead. The central prayer of the season asks that we be inscribed in the Book of Life for a good year.

Key Observances

The most distinctive ritual is the sounding of the shofar, a ram’s horn. Its blasts — tekiah, shevarim, and teruah — serve as a spiritual wake-up call, stirring the soul to return and awaken. Because the first day of Rosh Hashanah 5787 falls on Shabbat, the shofar is not sounded on Saturday; it is blown on the second day, Sunday, September 13.

Festive meals feature foods that express hope for a sweet and abundant year:

• Apples dipped in honey
• Round challah (often studded with raisins), symbolizing the cycle of the year
• Pomegranates, whose many seeds represent wishes for many merits
• Other symbolic dishes such as fish heads, carrots, and dates, depending on family and community custom

Candle lighting, special prayers, and the festive kiddush over wine open each evening of the holiday. Many also observe Tashlich, the symbolic casting of sins into flowing water, usually on the afternoon of the first day (or the second day when the first falls on Shabbat).

Greetings and Wishes

The traditional greeting is Shanah Tovah (“A good year”) or the fuller L’Shanah Tovah Tikatevu (“May you be inscribed for a good year”). Many add u’metukah — “and sweet.”

A Time of Return

Rosh Hashanah is less about revelry and more about teshuvah — return. It is an invitation to pause, look honestly at one’s life, and realign with what matters most. Whether observed in synagogue, at a family table, or in quiet personal reflection, the day carries a universal resonance: the possibility of beginning again.

As the new Hebrew year 5787 opens, the ancient call of the shofar — delayed this year until Sunday — still echoes the same message across centuries: wake up, return, and choose life.

Shanah Tovah. May the year ahead be good, sweet, and full of light.