For the general non-Jewish populace, the holiday Rosh Hashanah is a bit of a mystery. To define the holiday is to say it is the Jewish New Year. To keep up demand, several companies are now bringing out Rosh Hashanah cards. These Rosh Hashanah cards coincide with Rosh Hashanah services and Rosh Hashanah greetings.
Greeting companies know that there is little in common between Rosh Hashanah services and the common drunken binge that is New Years. The only similarity is the use of resolutions. On New Year every year thousands of Americans plan their next 365 days with resolutions, which are basically promises to themselves or others. The same holds true Rosh Hashanah services, which revolve around retrospection, or looking back on the previous year and mistakes made there.
Rosh Hashanah cards are one of the newest things in the greeting card industry. Realizing a need for Rosh Hashanah greetings, these companies have rolled out a whole line of Rosh Hashanah cards that have grown in popularity over the years.
It is common knowledge that greeting card companies ignored the Jewish holidays for years. This is a thing of the past. More now than ever, there is a definite need for Rosh Hashanah cards as well as other cards for the Jewish faith.
Just like many other Jewish holidays, Rosh Hashanah is a day where no one works. This is in respect for God and the Sabbath. Special prayers are often said during Rosh Hashanah services and from these prayers many of the Rosh Hashanah cards have been derived.
Rosh Hashanah is not a sad holiday, even though one is urged to look back on the previous year and attempt to reconcile with God for mistakes that have made, it is still a time for great joy and celebration.
Another popular observance during Rosh Hashanah is the eating of apples dipped in honey. This is a symbol of wishing someone a sweet New Year. Many Rosh Hashanah cards bear images of people eating apples dipped in honey.
A common Rosh Hashanah greeting reads 'May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year' which is a popular headline on Rosh Hashanah cards.
Rosh Hashanah services lean towards the teachings of God's sovereignty thereby reaffirming a person's place in the world as a servant of the Almighty.
Rosh Hashanah is often times referred to as the day of sounding the shofar. The shofar is a ram's horn that is blown like a trumphet. The shofar plays a total of 100 notes each day inside the synagogue. This is considered by many to be the most important observance of Rosh Hashanah.
Casting off is another important observance of Rosh Hashanah. This ritual consists of people walking to a body of flowing water and emptying their pockets into the water. This is meant to symbolize the casting off of sin. This practice is not mentioned in the Bible but it has been a long-standing ritual in Judaism. But just because it isn't in the bible does not mean that the Jewish do not have to celebrate it. The bible as we know is more for Christians but Jewish traditions do not have to be written in the Bible.