Rosh Hashanah

Yom Kippur

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish Holiday, is celebrated in the month of Tishre. The Tishre is the seventh month according to the Jewish calendar. The first day of Tishre is announced by the blowing of the Shofar. The Shofar is a ram’s horn. Rosh Hashanah is the prelude to the holy day of Yom Kippur.

Rosh Hashanah is a solemn celebration. The Jewish New Year is very different than the secular New Year that we celebrate. Rosh Hashanah celebrates the creation of the universe, the creatures, and humanity. Along with this the Jewish people believe that they should look at their faults during this time. They try to look at the negativity that the caused and what they could do to help them make better than the were the past year.

The main theme of Rosh Hashanah is that all creatures in the world within a ten day period stand in front of the creator and are judged by him. Each person is judged, nobody escapes. The celebration climaxes on the day of Yom Kippur. The Jewish prayer book states that there is no hiding from the Almighty’s eyes for he sees everything. Their God is a loving a forgiving God, through all the praying and pleading the creator will forgive the people who have sinned and that have offended others.

The Jewish God is very much like the God Catholics believe in. He is compassionate, forgiving and, understanding. He forgives even though the people don not deserve anything.

Rosh Hashanah is also a day to remember. They remember the good, the bad, and the things that they have done in the past year. They also look into their destiny and where they are in life.

The Jewish New Year is very much like the New Year that the Americans celebrate. This is a time where the people create resolutions and these make us better as people. The Jewish ask for forgiveness and then they try not to commit the same sin. It is alike in some ways. According to the Jewish law, God is the King of Kings and we are his subjects.

A shofar is used to announce the coming of the solemn holiday of Rosh Hashanah. The shofar or the ram’s horn. The ram’s horn was used in the beginning of every national event. Some of the historic times that the Jewish people use the shofar are at Mount Sinai, at the beginning of war , and at the Advent of Peace.

Rosh Hashanah’s celebration is suppose to declare a person from his soul. A person is free from the past year’s bad things. It is a time the Jewish people confront the people they have hurt. Basically the whole concept of Rosh Hashanah is repentance. Rosh Hashanah is the celebration of the birthday of the world alongside with the other point of repentance. On Rosh Hashanah Jewish people eat symbolic foods such as the following. Round foods, sweet foods, bread, apples dipped in honey, wine and honey cake. Round food symbolizes the beginning of time, sweet food symbolizes delicious and sweet year. The bread the Jews eat every Sunday is the challah, shaped in a round twist.

Rules for the Jews during the time of Rosh Hashanah are as follows: no school, no work, no work, no television, no e-mail, no voice mail, and every adult must hear the shofar. Also the adults must participate in the prayer service that the are obligated to go to.

On the first day of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish people are accustom to go to a body of water. This is a ocean, lake, pond or anyplace where fish dwell. On this day the women have to wear the nicest dress that they have. They go to the body of water and they pray. Their prayer says that they cast their sins into the body of water. The men turn their pockets inside out and the crumbs fall out representing sin leaving them. If there is not a lake or pond near the people they can use a water fountain or a faucet.

Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur is the climax of the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah. Yom Kippur is the last day of a year that a person can be forgiven by another person or by an offended group. Jewish people must be in good terms with their neighbors. After they are in good standings with their neighbors they can be in good terms with the almighty. Yom Kippur means the day of annointment. As Jewish people see themselves they greet themselves by saying Please forgive me I have offended you. This is said for ten days.

Charity in the Jewish society is important. All money that is given to charity is to be put aside and given to the synagogue before the evening prayer service. According to the Jewish charity is a thing that saves them from death. The Jewish believe that charity is not a thing that could save them totally but it could help them during the time of judgement.

Feasting on the day before Yom Kippur is as follows. The people of the Jewish society eat a meal that is not very large. They eat until they are satisfied. After this they fast for the next day. On Yom Kippur people a custom to wearing a white Robe. This robe is called a Kittle. It represents purity and unsoiled confidence.

This robe is like the special clothing that catholic people wear on their special days. Usually women in the catholic religion wear a nice Christmas dress on Christmas

There are many symbols that the Jewish people have during Yom Kippur. Some of these symbol are as follows: abstain from any sexual relation. This symbolizes that the Jewish people are removing themselves from the life source. They don’t wash themselves. This symbolizes the decay of them when they die. Fasting, another symbol, represents the depravation of a life substance.

The reason that the Jewish people enact a death during Yom Kippur is because they are going to repent before the die. People think that the Jewish people have a weird obsession with death but this is not the case. We don’t know when we are going to die, therefor the Jews repent every day, especially on Yom Kippur because it is the beginning of a new year.

Yom Kippur is the day of festive lights not a day of sadness. People think that because the Jewish people have strict rules and they have to fast and they also have to spend hours praying. It is a great day because that is when God forgives them for the thing that they have done. Also they are forgiven by the people they have offended throughout the coarse of that year.

Blessing of the children is a great thing that most Jewish parents do before they leave the home to go to the evening service. The parents gather the children and bless them. The believe that this will bring them health, personal fulfillment, and a spiritual growth.

The liturgy of the special night of Yom Kippur starts the eve of Yom Kippur. On the night of Kol Nidre. The prayers of this night are suppose to fill the people with fear, anticipation, and joy. The text of the readings date back from the days of when the enemies of the Israelites corrupted and changed the text.

When the Jewish people go into the Jewish synagogue they begin Kol Nidrei as state above. This means All vows. This prayer is said annually. On Yom Kippur the Maariv prayer is said after sundown. Some of the prayers last from eight in the morning until sundown. After Mincha there is another service called Neila which is said only on this day. When the Jews leave the synagogue they say to each other "L’shana ha-baa b’Yeroshalaim." The person who this is said to responds by saying amen!

After Yom Kippur the people of Israel are expected to feast and celebrate because they are celebrating a joyful day.

In conclusion, the Jewish people celebrate the New Year in a very different way than the people are not Jewish. Judism is a very different way of life as it is a religion. It was intresting finding out that the Jewish people have very different way of living. They have many different symbols in their religion. They have harsh rules that they must follow and they must pray much.

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are different Holiday although they are related. Rosh Hashanah starts on the first days of Tishra and at the end of ten days of repenting and preparing themselves the Jewish people celebrate Yom Kippur the day of anointment.

This report was fun and time comsuming. It was intersting to find out information about a totally different culture and way of life. Sometimes we are in our little worlds and don not stop to open our eyes to the fact that our way of life is not the same way that people live. This report helped me to better understand the reasons why Jewish people act the way they do and they symbolizm behind that action.

Bibliography

Bibliography

1. Jewish Family and Life Yosef I. Abramowitz and Rabbi Susan Silverman

Copyright 1997 pp.139-172

2. Becoming a Jew Maurice Lamm

Copyright 1991 pp.347-365

3. A Jewish Philosophy and Way of Life Simon Greenberg

Copyright 1981 pp.346-347

4. Living Jewish Michael Asheri

Copyright 1978 pp.137-138

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