Rosh Hashanah - the Jewish New Year - will be celebrated over the next few days as Jewish people across the world reflect on the past year and look to the new one ahead. It's one of the biggest holidays in the Jewish calendar and it comes with loads of traditions.
Between the blowing of the shofar and the reason it's customary to tuck into a home-made honey cake, there's a lot to learn about Rosh Hashanah. And it doesn't stop there, because 10 days afterwards there's the more solemn occasion of Yom Kippur, a day of atonement when some Jewish people fast from sunset until sunset.
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur comprise the High Holy Days, in which huge numbers of Jewish people will attend synagogue. Attendance often skyrockets so much in this period that synagogues have to rent out specific premises as they're unable to fit the whole congregation in their usual building.
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Customs also differ across the world, with different ethnic groups of Jewish people celebrating in different ways. As Rosh Hashanah gets underway, here's everything you need to know about it:
When is Rosh Hashanah?
All Jewish holidays start at sunset, so Rosh Hashanah technically started on Sunday, September 25. But really, the first day is actually Erev Rosh Hashanah - the evening before the big event.
Rosh Hashanah begins proper on Monday, September 26. This is when most Jewish people will gather to celebrate the holiday, go to synagogue, and often share a meal.
It then carries on to a second and final full day (the third if you're including Erev Rosh Hashanah) on Tuesday, September 27, but this is a much more low-key event.
What is Yom Kippur and why is it 10 days after Rosh Hashanah?
Rosh Hashanah, as well as being the start of the year in the Jewish calendar, is the start of the 10 Days of Repentance. Traditionally, it's said that on Rosh Hashanah, G-d (as the Lord's name is traditionally written in Judaism) opens the Book of Life on Rosh Hashanah, and closes it 10 days later on Yom Kippur.
In that book, the fate of each person for the year ahead is said to be written, and the 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are a chance to seek forgiveness for the wrongs done in the past year.
On Yom Kippur, some Jewish people will fast and spend the whole day in synagogue to cap off this period of atonement, before breaking their fast with a lavish meal at sunset. It's important to remember that no two Jewish people are the same, though - some don't fast at all, and for many, Yom Kippur is more of a chance to reflect on how they can be a better person in the next year than it is about apologising directly to G-d.
How is Rosh Hashanah celebrated and what foods do Jewish people eat on Rosh Hashanah?
Judaism is an extremely broad and varied religion, with different Jewish people and groups celebrating in different ways. The generally practiced components of Rosh Hashanah are:
- The shofar, a musical horn usually made from a ram's horn, is blown as a call to prayer, and also as a sort of spiritual alarm clock to wake up the congregation and invite them to start the 10 Days of Repentance.
- A synagogue service which includes the year's first reciting of Avinu Malkeinu - a prayer spoken and sung across these 10 days and widely regarded as one of the most moving and atmospheric prayers in the songbook.
- The eating of special foods which for Ashkenazi communities (the majority of those in the UK, originating in Eastern Europe) includes apples and honey, and honey cake. These are traditional as the sweet taste is said to invite a 'sweet New Year.' Pomegranates are also eaten, to symbolise the mitzvot - the good deeds - to come in the following year.
Culinary traditions across other communities, including Mizrahi Judaism, originating from the Middle East and north Africa, include a full seder meal, comprised of beans, meat and squash, among other things - each with a symbolic meaning.
A sweet white plaited bread called challah is also traditional for basically any Jewish event you care to name (except Passover, where any leavened bread is forbidden), and Rosh Hashanah is no exception - but the challah at Rosh Hashanah is round, rather than plaited in a straight line. This is because Rosh Hashanah literally means "the head of the year" - and the round challah symbolises this head, as well as the year which has just come full circle.
Where will Rosh Hashanah be celebrated in Wales?
The number of Jewish communities in Wales, unfortunately, has been shrinking for a long time. The once-thriving synagogue in Merthyr Tydfil is now empty and derelict - but there are plans to turn it into a museum to celebrate the Jewish history of Wales.
The story across most of south Wales is the same. From a peak of 11 active synagogues in 1950, the numbers have dwindled sharply. There are now only two synagogues with functioning, permanent buildings in south Wales - Cardiff United Synagogue and Cardiff Reform Synagogue.
Llandudno has a modest Hebrew Congregation that still operates out of its original building, as well as serving as a summer retreat for members of the Orthodox Chabad movement. Other small communities operate without a full-time synagogue building - including in Swansea and in Newport, where the community had only six members as of 2014.
But the story of the Jewish community is one of defiance and endurance against the odds. In all of the recognised Jewish communities in Wales and across all the homes of the Jewish people who live here, families and friends will gather to ring in the New Year, and to prepare for the period of atonement and reflection ahead.
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