Today marks the last day of Rosh Hashanah 2021 – to all my fellow Jews, L’Shana Tova! To all my non-Jewish friends, if you’re wondering WTF that means and why the F people are saying Happy New Year in the middle of September, this blog is for you.
Rosh Hashanah is one of the most important holidays for Jewish people around the world. The name “Rosh Hashanah” translates from Hebrew to mean “the head of the year,” and the holiday marks the start of the Jewish New Year. During the two-day celebration, your Jewish friends or coworkers might take time away from work to attend synagogue, eat foods such as apples and honey or say prayers near a body of water.
Jewish communities around the world have embraced different celebrations for Rosh Hashanah. Some of the most common celebrations for Jews in the United States include eating apples and honey, which is meant to usher in a sweet new year (and also my personal favorite – if you haven’t tried it, thank me and the Jewish people later).
Rosh Hashanah is the first of two of the Jewish High Holidays – next up in the pipeline is Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur is both the holiest day of the Jewish calendar and also one of the most somber. It’s the time for repentance and includes fasting from sundown to sundown (so if every Jewish person you know seems like they’re Hangry on the same day, it’s no coincidence, it’s probably Yom Kippur!).
