Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is one of Judaism’s holiest days. Meaning “head of the year” or “first of the year”, the festival begins on the first day of Tishrei, the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar, which falls in September or October.
Rosh Hashanah commemorates the creation of the world and marks the beginning of the Days of Awe, a 10-day period of introspection and repentance that culminate in the Yom Kippur holiday, also known as the Day of Atonement. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the two “High Holy Days” in the Jewish religion.
Rosh Hashanah 2022 begins on Sunday 25 September and ends on the evening of Tuesday 27 September. The exact date of Rosh Hashanah varies every year since it is based on the Hebrew Calendar, where it begins on the first day of the seventh month. It is almost always in September or October.
History and Significance of Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah is not explicitly mentioned in the Torah, Judaism’s founding religious text, and appears under different names in the Bible. The Torah does, however, mention a sacred occasion that starts on the first day of the seventh month of the Jewish calendar around the time Rosh Hashanah is scheduled. Though the holiday was likely well established by the sixth century BC, the phrase “Rosh Hashanah” shows up for the first time in the Mishna, a Jewish code of law compiled in 200 AD.
The Hebrew calendar begins with the month of Nisan, but Rosh Hashanah occurs at the start of Tishrei, when God is said to have created the world. For this reason it can be seen as the birthday of the world rather than New Year in the secular sense; still, it is on Rosh Hashanah that the number of the civil year increases. The Mishna described three other “new years” in the Jewish calendar in addition to Rosh Hashanah. Nisan 1 was used to resume the cycle of months and measure the duration of kings’ reigns. Elul 1 resembled the start of the modern fiscal year and determined the tithing of animals for charity or sacrifice. Shevat 15 calculated the age of fruit bearing trees and is now celebrated as the minor holiday of Tu B’Shevat.
According to tradition, God judges all creatures during the 10 Days of Awe between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, deciding whether they will live or die in the coming year. Jewish law teaches that God inscribes the names of the righteous in the “book of life” and condemns the wicked to death on Rosh Hashanah; people who fall between the two categories have until Yom Kippur to perform “teshuvah” or repentance. As a result, observant Jews consider Rosh Hashanah and the days surrounding it a time for prayer, good deeds, reflecting on past mistakes and making amends with others.
