High Holidays of 2024 World-Wide and Prayers For Peace For Israel

Nadene Goldfoot                                          

                                       Rosh Hashana and my round Challah for the New Year

Challah is traditionally made round for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, for a variety of symbolic reasons, including: 

• The cycle of time: The round shape represents the cycle of the year, both the past and the future. 
• A crown: The round challah's shape resembles a crown, which symbolizes God as king. 
• A desire for a full year: The round shape represents the desire for a complete year. 
• A reminder to perform t'shuvah: The round shape reminds people to perform t'shuvah, or repentance, and live a life of goodness. 
• A time to make choices: The round shape reminds people that Rosh Hashanah is a time to make decisions about whether they want to repeat the past year or make changes.  
•  This year we will pray for peace finally in the Middle East and in Ukraine.  

• Pomegranates: Using pomegranates to decorate the table, or serving them, as they are symbolic of hope 
• New fruit: Eating "new fruit" on the second night of the holiday, before breaking bread and dipping it in honey 
• Fish head: Serving a whole fish with the head attached, to symbolize moving forward and making progress in the year to come 
• Dates: Eating dates, as a symbol of praying for God to vanquish enemies and those who wish evil upon us 
• Beets: Eating beets, as a symbol of the hope that enemies or other obstacles will be “removed” from our lives 

Rosh Hashana:  Evening of Wed, Oct 2, 2024 – Fri, Oct 4, 2024

This is the start of our High Holidays.  Rosh Hashanah (Hebrew: רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה‎,  literally "head of the year") is the New Year in Judaism. The biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (יוֹם תְּרוּעָה‎, Yōm Tərūʿā, lit. "day of shouting/blasting"). It is the first of the High Holy Days (יָמִים נוֹרָאִים‎, Yāmīm Nōrāʾīm, "Days of Awe"), as specified by Leviticus 23:23–25, that occur in the late summer/early autumn of the Northern Hemisphere. Rosh Hashanah begins ten days of penitence culminating in Yom Kippur, as well as beginning the cycle of autumnal religious festivals running through Sukkot which end on Shemini Atzeret in Israel and Simchat Torah everywhere else.

In the Talmud tractate on Rosh Hashanah, it states that 3 books of account are opened on Rosh Hashanah, wherein the fate of the wicked, the righteous, and those of the intermediate class are recorded. The names of the righteous are immediately inscribed in the Book of Life and they are sealed "to live". The intermediate class is allowed a respite of ten days, until Yom Kippur, to reflect, repent, and become righteous;  the wicked are "blotted out of the book of the living forever."

                                                                        

Yom Kippur:  Evening of Fri, Oct 11, 2024 – Sat, Oct 12, 2024

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is known as the holiest day of the Jewish year. Leading up to and on that day, Jews traditionally ask for forgiveness for our wrongdoings from God and from our fellow human beings.   The Shofar is blown.  It is a mitzva to hear this.  The first day of Tishrei (now known as Rosh Hashana) is termed a "memorial of blowing", or "day of blowing", the shofar. Shofars were used for signifying the start of a war. They were also employed in processions as musical accompaniment, and were inserted into the temple orchestra by David.                                         

Jews strive to transcend our physical bodies on Yom Kippur so that we can focus on our souls. Therefore, traditionally, Jews fast on Yom Kippur, refraining from both food and drink for the entire 25 hours of the holiday. It is also traditional to refrain from other earthly pleasures, such as bathing and wearing leather shoes, something seen as a luxury in ancient times. Many Jews choose to wear white, symbolizing purity and renewal as we repent for our past sins.                                          

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPIiQDICFFc

Yom Kippur begins with the hauntingly beautiful Kol Nidrei service. Flanked by two witnesses holding Torahs to simulate a beit din, a Jewish court, the prayer leader recites a centuries-old Aramaic formula releasing us from any vows that we may fail to fulfill in the upcoming year.     

The prayer Kol Nidrei includes the following English translations: 

• "Our vows shall no longer be vows, and our prohibitions shall no longer be prohibited, and our oaths are no longer oaths" 
• "Forgive the entire congregation of the Children of Yisrael and the stranger amongst them; for the entire people sin unintentionally" 
• "Blessed are You, Adonoy, our God, King of the Universe Who has kept us alive and sustained us and brought us to this time" 
• "We declare these null and void" 
• "We repent that these obligations have estranged us from the sacred task we were chosen for" 
• "We shall strive from this Day of Atonement till the next to avoid such and similar obligations" 

Resource:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosh_Hashanah

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shofar#:~:text=It%20is%20blown%20each%20morning,initiate%20and%20dissolve%20a%20Herem.