Jewish New Year

New Year for Jewish people is the most important event. Month of September and October (according to the Gregorian calender) are for welcoming the New Year. Everybody is in high spirits and mood of the festival. Festival celebrations begin with Rosh Hashanah and ends with Yom Kippur.

Good health, long life and prosperity for all is the New Year wish of every Jewish. A grand New Year celebrations takes place and lot of enthusiasm can be seen on the faces of all Jewish. There are many religious believes associated with the celebrations of New Year. It is on this day, God recreates fate of his creatures. .

Jewish New Year
The origin of Jewish New Year can be traced from the holy Bible which is celebrated over a thousand years. The Jewish New Year takes place in the month of Tishri that are months of September and October according to the Gregorian calender.

When is it Celebrated?
It is a 10 day long celebration. It begins at the sundown of first day and lasts till sundown of the tenth day. Rosh Hashanah is celebrated the first two days. It means New Year according to the Jewish tradition. Following all traditions, Yom Kippur is celebrated on the tenth day of Tishri. And the time between these two days is called Shabbat Shuva.

Jewish New Year Celebrations
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the two major festivals ritually performed during ten days celebrations.

Rosh Hashanah
The day commemorates with lighting of candles. Family get-together is the common scene while celebrating Rosh Hashanah. People eat traditional food which includes apples dipped in honey reminding of all that is sweet in life and a baked challah bread. Prayers play a very important role in the celebrations. People recite kiddush prayers on this day.

The festival has a myth associated with it. It is said that G-d opens his book of fate every human being and scribbles in it, "who shall die...who shall live...who will fall...who will rise". Rosh Hashanah describes the relationship between mankind and G-d. Another ritual followed is of blowing the Shofar, the ram's horn. It calls for repenting the sins.

Yom Kippur
The day celebrates the closeness with God. It is also called the Day of Atonement. It is celebrated on the 10th day of Tishri. It is believed that God gives chance to his people to repent for their sins. People look to the passed year and plan for the next year. The day is followed by strict tradition of fasting.

On Yom Kippur, people eat a festive meal, take holy bath and give charity. In the course of festival, five prayers are offered to god.

Yom Kippur is considered the most solemn day of the year. Jewish people pray to God to wash all their sins. The book is written on Rosh Hashanah but the actions of a person during the 10 day festivities can change God's directive. The books of fate for the year are supposed to be sealed on this day.