Rosh Hashanah

Sundown on the first day of Tishrei (the first month of the Jewish civil calendar) marks the beginning of the Jewish New Year or Rosh Hashanah, which literally means “head of the year.” Rosh Hashanah is the first of the High Holidays, or Asseret Yemei Teshuva (Ten Days of Repentance) which are days specifically set aside for repentance concluding with the holiday of Yom Kippur.

In the Bible Rosh Hashanah is referred to as Yom-Teruah, the day of the sounding of the shofar, known to Christians as the Feast of Trumpets. You can read about it in the book of Leviticus, chapter 23. The common Hebrew greeting during this festival is “L’shanah tovah” or just “Shana Tova” for short, which means “may you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.”