Many AHS students celebreated Rosh Hashanah, or Jewish New Year on September 29 and 30. As one of the four new year celebrations denoted in the Mishna and Talmud, Rosh Hashanah literally translates to ‘head [of] the year’.
According to junior Harris Fitzgerel, Rosh Hashanah is officially only one day, but is celebrated as two by some branches of Judaism due to a history where the lunar calendar was unclear. As a Reform Jew, Fitzgerel is a member of one of the only branches that does not celebrate for two days. Conservative, Orthodox, Reconstructionist, Hasidic and Humanitarian celebrate differently because of the way they interpret the Torah.
The Jewish faith uses a lunar calendar rather than the Gregorian calendar because of the importance of harvest. Therefore the year 2011 translates into the year 5772.
On the day of Rosh Hashanah, a person who follows Judaism stands as righteous, intermediate or wicked.
“For us, as long as you’re genuinely apologetic then you’re fine. I would say I’m righteous, I definitely try to [atone] for everything,” Fitzgerel said.
Tradition calls for the blowing of shofars, or horns, to mark the beginning and end of the week between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
“The beginning [means] getting into ‘the book of life’ and the end with Yom Kippur marks a day of atonement and fasting,” Fitzgerel said.
“I didn’t go to school to show its importance, I went to temple, had dinner with my family, but I didn’t do fireworks because the holiday isn’t as popular in America,” Fitzgerel said, “I did the same prayers [one would do for] Shabbat, like over bread and wine, as well as prayers of thanks.”
