Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is a fall holiday, taking place at the beginning of the month of Tishrei, which is actually the seventh month of the Jewish year (counting from Nisan in the spring). It is both a time of rejoicing and of serious introspection, a time to celebrate the completion of another year while also taking stock of one's life.

High Holiday Days: The two days of Rosh Hashanah usher in the Ten Days of Repentance or Aseret Yemei Teshuvah, also known as the Days of Awe or Yamim Noraim, which culminate in the major fast day of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The Days of Awe represent the climax of a longer process. Starting at the beginning of the previous month, called Elul, the shofar is traditionally sounded at the conclusion of the morning service. A ram's horn that makes a trumpet-like sound, the shofar is intended as a wake-up call to prepare for the Tishrei holidays. One week before Rosh Hashanah, special petitionary prayers called Selichot are added to the ritual. Rosh Hashanah itself is also known as Yom Hadin or the Day of Judgment, on which God opens the Books of Life and Death, which are then sealed on Yom Kippur.

History: The origins of Rosh Hashanah may be sought in a royal enthronement ritual of biblical times, though the Bible itself never mentions the "New Year" or "Day of Judgment" aspects of the holiday. Even though Rosh Hashanah falls in the seventh month, later rabbinic tradition decided to designate it the beginning of the year. Although the origin of this tradition may have been adopted from the Babylonians, the rabbis imbued it with Jewish significance as the anniversary of the day on which the world was created, or of the day on which humanity was created. Another explanation can be found in the significance of Tishrei as the seventh month, hence the Sabbath of the year.

The challah that is eaten for the Rosh Hashanah season is round, symbolizing the eternal cycle of life. The challah is traditionally dipped in honey, symbolizing the hopes for a sweet New Year. The same is done with apples, which are made even sweeter with the addition of honey. Some people avoid eating nuts at this time, since according to a somewhat convoluted Gematria(mystical numerical interpretation) the Hebrew words for nut (egoz) and sin (het) have the same numerical value.

Theology: This is the time of year during which we are to atone for both our individual --and on Yom Kippur, our communal-- sins committed over the course of the previous year, before God literally closes the books on us and inscribes our fates for the coming year. God's rule over humanity and our need to serve God are stressed time and again over the course of the holiday.

Three unique sets of prayers are added to the morning service during Rosh Hashanah. These are known as Malkhuyot, which address the sovereignty of God, Zikhronot, which present God as the one who remembers past deeds, and Shofarot, in which we stand in nervous anticipation of the future. Each of these sections culminates in the blasts of the Shofar, the most potent symbol of the holiday. The shofar is alluded to in the most memorable Torah reading for the holiday, the Akedah or Binding of Isaac. The story and the shofar serve as reminders of the covenant between God and the people of Israel, carrying with them the message of sacrifice, hope, and continuity. Among the popular traditions associated with the holiday is a ceremony performed on the afternoon of the first day of Rosh Hashanah called tashlikh, when people throw crumbs or pieces of bread, symbolizing their sins, upon flowing water.

Rosh Hashanah is referred to in the Bible as Yom Teruah (the day of sounding of the Shofar) or Yom Hazikaron (the day of remembering), but it is its later, rabbinic interpretation as the New Year that has become the best known to us. Rosh Hashanah also is traditionally associated with the creation of the world. This emphasis on new beginnings lends itself easily to the prevailing High Holiday themes of repentance and renewal.

In the synagogue: On Rosh Hashanah, we see a number of themes repeated in both the liturgy and Torah service. While the structure of the services is quite similar to daily liturgy, there are numerous additions that add powerful reminders that this is a time for us to take stock of ourselves before we enter the coming year. Liturgical poems that emphasize God's kingship and judiciousness put us in the proper mood for the day. These are complemented by some additions to the standard prayers as well. For example, in the silent Amidah, one line is added from Rosh Hashanah through Yom Kippur beginning with "zokhrenu l'hayyim…" which asks God to remember us for life and to inscribe us in the Book of Life, while another line, "mi khamokha av harahamim…" asks God to remember us with mercy.

Torah: The Torah readings for the two days of Rosh Hashanah highlight themes of birth, creation, and mercy through the story of the birth of Isaac, and raise issues of fear, judgment, and testing of faith in the telling of Isaac's would-be sacrifice. The rabbis connect the ram, which thankfully substitutes for Isaac's sacrifice, to the Shofar made of a ram's horn) that is usually blown shortly after the Torah service and again during the repetition of the Amidah in the Musaf.

Shofar: It is these blasts of the shofar that often make the biggest impression on this holiday. The three different sounds are the tekiah (a single, long blast), the shevarim (three shorter blasts which together should be about the same length as one tekiah), and the teruah (nine staccato blasts, also about the same length of time as the tekiah and shevarim). There are different opinions about what can be evoked in this series of blasts. Some view it simply as an alarm that awakens us to our need to do teshuvah (repentance) and others see the broken teruah, for example, as the sound of wailing, perhaps in fear of judgment. Whatever the interpretation, the poignant cries of the Shofar can be quite a moving juxtaposition to the otherwise wordy High Holiday liturgy.

Tashlikh: There is another liturgical addition to Rosh Hashanah that is quite unlike any other service in Judaism --tashlikh (literally, throwing away). On the afternoon of the first day of Rosh Hashanah (unless it is also Shabbat, in which case it is done the second day of the festival), many people walk to a flowing body of water to symbolically cast away their sins in the form of bread crumbs thrown upon the waters. A verse from the prophet Micah 7:19 is cited as the origin for this custom. It states, "You will cast away your sins into the depths of the sea." While this was once controversial among those who believed it would trivialize the process of repentance, it has remained a very popular custom to this day.