Rosh And Jewish Holidays And Celebrations

Added: 11/08/2007

If you are looking for the Jewish holiday for the New year, then you cannot just look up the name Jewish New Year because that is not what it is called. Rosh Hashanah is the right term to use, and it is literally translated to head of the year, which makes since that this would be the name of New Years. Rosh Hashanah is a term that first appeared in Tanakh in Ezekiel. However, you should keep in mind that Rosh Hashanah does not refer to the first day of the new year, but to the beginning of the year in general.

When seeking about Jewish holidays, like New Years, it is cool to point out that Rosh Hashanah is the new year for not only people but animals and legal contracts as well. Unlike our New Years day, the Rosh Hashanah extends over the first two days of the Hebrew month. The name of this month is called Tishrei. It is worth noting that this holds true for Israel as well, and most Jewish holidays only last one day there. However, Rosh Hashanah is the exception to the rules. This is a day that is big to them and means a lot. Also, you have to remember that calendar days are different on a Hebrew calendar than they are on a American calendar. First of all, on a Hebrew calendar the new days being at sun down and not at 12 o'clock midnight. So that means that Rosh Hashanah starts on sundown on Elul 29th (which is the month just before Tishrei). I think that it is very cool to learn this kind of stuff because these are things that most people do not know, and it is cool to tell them about. I mean, most people do not know that days on the Hebrew calendar end at sun down. Rosh Hashanah starts at sun down for them, and our New Years starts at midnight, it is just a cool little fact.

Now when I told you that Rosh Hashanah is celebrated on two days, that means that it is celebrated on two days now. However, the second day is just an addition and is not from a literal reading of the Biblical commandments (which does state that the holiday should be celebrated on the first day and it says nothing about a second day). However, lots of people refer to Rosh Hashanah as Yoma Arichtah. This translates to one long day. So evidence even shows that Rosh Hashanah may have only been celebrated for one day in Jerusalem in the late thirteenth century. Do keep in mind that most people do celebrated Rosh Hashanah for two days, however, some people do only celebrate it for the one day (which would be the first day and not the second day at all). The Orthodox and Conservative Judaism, however, do celebrate both days. One group that does only celebrate the one day would have to be the Karaite Jews, because they do not accept the oral law, only the Biblical scripture. So thus they only celebrate the first day of Tishrei. This is because the second day is not mentioned at all in the Torah.

Not matter what kind of Jew you are or which way you choose to celebrate Rosh Hashanah (if you choose to celebrate it at all), it is cool to know that people all over the world have there very own New years party. That is something that I kind of like to think joins us in a world where we are all so different and believe in so many different things. However, as you can see, even a thing like when to celebrate a holiday is a hard choice for everyone to make, and we do not all do it at the same time. This is because we are all so different, and not everyone does things at the same time with everyone else. However, it is pretty cool to know that we do all have this type of holiday in one way or the other, and this lets us know that we are not all that much different from each other. So the next time you celebrate your New Years, be sure to think about Rosh Hashanah.

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