Rosh Hashanah: what is it, customs and history of the Jewish new year 2022. Unlike the liturgical year, which corresponds to the year 2022 starting in January, the Jewish New Year falls in September, the first and second day of the month of Tishri, so let’s see what its origin and history are, what year in reality corresponds to this new Jewish year and what customs it has in its celebration.
Unlike the liturgical year, also called the year of the Lord, with celebrations that have a long tradition, such as Easter or Lent, the Jewish New Year is celebrated on another day and another month. The Rosh Hashanah literally means “head of the year” Y celebrates the culminating moment of the creation of the world.
Rosh Hashanah: what is it, customs and history of the Jewish new year 2022
The Rosh Hashanah or Jewish New Year is celebrated this year between the 25th and the 27th of September.
Rosh HaShanah is only the first of the three new years foreseen by the Jewish calendar and introduces the ten penitential days that precede to Yom Kippur (day of atonement) during which the Jewish people realize their behavior in the previous year by invoking the grace of the Lord.
This year’s Jewish New Year will be the beginning of the year 5781 since the Jewish calendar counts the years from the supposed date of creation, which according to the indications of the Bible has been calculated by the rabbinical tradition until 3760 a. c.
Origin of Rosh Hashanah
It is also called the Day of Sound (Yom teru’ah), the Day of Judgment (Yom ha-din), and the Day of Remembrance (Yom ha-zikkaron). The anniversary is not linked to historical events related to the people of Israel, but it commemorates the creation of the world, 5,779 years ago. It’s Earth’s birthday. A date of universal importance because, connecting with the day they were created in the first man and the first womanshows that the humanity, all descendants of the first couple, enjoy the equal rights and dignity of every person be a child of God. According to Judaism, on New Year’s Day and in the immediately following period, God judges each individual of any people to which it belongs, an event that involves the members of all humanity.
Rosh Hashanah is also a day that concerns each being individually., because each of us has our own personality, with our own family, work and health problems, problems that push us to look up to God to ask for help. and consolation, to find in him the strength to continue, improve and choose the right path.
The dates of Rosh Hashanah 2022
The Jewish New Year It is celebrated this year between the night of September 25 and 27 . According to the Hebrew calendar, which counts the days from the moment of creation, the new year that arrives is 5580. The day on which the new year is celebrated varies from year to year, although it usually falls between September 6 and 5th of October.
How to calculate the exact date
To calculate the start day of the Jewish New Year, we start from the start day of Passover, which in 2021 was April 8. This holiday is called Pesach and has nothing to do with Easter as Catholics see it. Passover commemorates the Jews’ flight from Egypt or the exodus that finally ushered them into the promised land. Established on the day of Passover, the start date of the Jewish New Year falls 163 days later.
When is Rosh Hashanah?
The Rosh Hashanah celebration has for two consecutive days.
Rosh Hashanah Customs
This celebration is full of meanings and there is also the culinary aspect like the Rosh Hashanh dinner: along with the recitation of small prayer formulas, it is customary to consume so much something sweet (typical apple dipped in honey), as foods that give the idea of multiplicity, such as pomegranate, to wish us a sweet and prosperous year, but also full of good deeds.
Between the various dishes served during this dinnerdifferent in the various traditions, there is a constant presence of the head of some animal, symbolizing the head of the year. It is also usually brought to the table, the traditional challah or challah, which is the braided loaf of bread that is also taken to the sabbath and that for the new year is usually eaten round, symbolizing the circularity of the year. Another feature is the sound of the shofara ram’s horn to indicate that the time has come to wake up from slumber.
Traditions on Rosh Hashanah
Let’s see one by one some of the most outstanding traditions of the many that occur in the Jewish New Year.
seder
The seder indicates the ritual to be observed during dinner and concerns both the food and the Jewish New Year’s prayers. the seder The best known and most famous is the one that takes place during Holy Week. but also the New Year is celebrated in all homes.
Tashlik
Tradition has it that, during the days of Rosh Hashanah celebrations, each person must go to a river or lake and throw a stone into it. This ritual recalls the words of Micah who, turning to God, saw that he was the only one in a position to cast man’s deepest sins into the sea. Behold, then, that this gesture is a commitment to throw away the mistakes made up to that moment and be better men. In fact, Rosh Hashanah is also a moment of reflection and good intentions for the coming year.
On the days of the Jewish New Year the main color is white also used to decorate synagogues for celebrations.
Jewish New Year Foods and Recipes
Rosh Hashanah is rich and delicious, but the peculiarity is that there are no typical dishes to cook: rather they are individual foods that cannot be missing from the table (because they are linked to a particular meaning) and that each family cooks and interprets according to your preferences. Here, for example, is a list of traditional products that never fail:
- Lamb
- Fishes
- apples
- dates
- figs
- Pumpkin
- Fennel
a lot of honey is used to prepare these foods, because the good omen for the new year is to make it as sweet as possible (hence the choice of sugary fruits such as dates, figs and apples). The lamb is the symbol that remembers the sacrifice of Isaac while the fish indicates prosperity.
Another typical meal of this night, known in kosher Jewish cuisine, is the aforementioned challah. It is a bread that is kneaded in a ring, both for indicate the cyclic succession of the years as to wish a year without edges or difficulties.
Another symbolic food in the Jewish New Year is the pomegranate.. This fruit is not only sweet, as tradition says, but it is strongly emblematic as it represents prosperity and abundance, given the multiplicity of fruits it contains.
What is the meaning of Rosh Hashanah?
Actually, there is no event in the sacred texts that goes back to the Rosh Hashanah holiday. This anniversary is rather linked to a thanksgiving and a celebration in honor of God and his creation.
As is known, according to Jewish tradition, God created the universe in six days and on the last day he also gave birth to man to complete his great work of creation. It is also said that when the Lord finished creating AdamThe first man, the glorious sound of the shofar was heard very loud. This instrument, made from the horn of an animal, is still used today during Rosh Hashanah.
According to the liturgical calendar, the Jewish New Year falls in September, the first and second days of the month of Tishri (or the first month of the modern Hebrew calendar). It is a religious holiday followed today with the greatest devotion by the entire world community of 14.7 million Jews. The meaning of Rosh Hashanah is submission to the sovereignty of heaven. During these two days, even illustrious and prestigious people serve the Lord in a simple way, with the recitation of the Psalms, a minimum of sleep during the night and special attention to focus on a deep devotion, away from inappropriate thoughts.