Published on: 09/22/06
As Rosh Hashanah begins, Rabbi Yossi Lerman of Chabad Enrichment Center in Norcross explains its significance:
WHAT IT MEANS:
Translated literally from Hebrew, "rosh hashanah" means the "head of the year," and it is truly that — the beginning of another year.
WHEN DOES IT BEGIN?
The two-day observance begins on the first day of Tishri, the seventh month in the Jewish calendar. The book of Leviticus, chapter 23, verse 24 is explicit: "In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation." This will be the year 5767 in the Jewish calendar.
"We'll be changing Hebrew calendars and computers here, in Israel and everywhere else around the world," Lerman said.
HOW LONG DOES IT LAST?
From sundown today until sundown Sunday. It is followed by Yom Kippur, the day of atonement — a period of fasting and prayers for forgiveness of the previous year's sins.
HOW IS IT OBSERVED?
The faithful enjoy festive meals that include wine, meat and sweets. They also pray and ready themselves for another year. Lerman likened the period to a "report card" to the Lord.
The holiday is traditionally observed with the shofar, a ram's horn. A series of blasts on the horn hail God as the "king and teacher of the universe," Lerman said.
In a break from tradition, the shofar will not be blown on Saturday, because that day also is the Jewish sabbath, a day of rest "when we put out hands down and realize we are guests in this world."
Source: The Chabad Enrichment Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a thriving Jewish presence in Northeast Georgia. 678-595-0196.
www.chabadenrichment.org.
—Mark Davis
As Rosh Hashanah begins, Rabbi Yossi Lerman of Chabad Enrichment Center in Norcross explains its significance:
WHAT IT MEANS:
Translated literally from Hebrew, "rosh hashanah" means the "head of the year," and it is truly that — the beginning of another year.
WHEN DOES IT BEGIN?
The two-day observance begins on the first day of Tishri, the seventh month in the Jewish calendar. The book of Leviticus, chapter 23, verse 24 is explicit: "In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation." This will be the year 5767 in the Jewish calendar.
"We'll be changing Hebrew calendars and computers here, in Israel and everywhere else around the world," Lerman said.
HOW LONG DOES IT LAST?
From sundown today until sundown Sunday. It is followed by Yom Kippur, the day of atonement — a period of fasting and prayers for forgiveness of the previous year's sins.
HOW IS IT OBSERVED?
The faithful enjoy festive meals that include wine, meat and sweets. They also pray and ready themselves for another year. Lerman likened the period to a "report card" to the Lord.
The holiday is traditionally observed with the shofar, a ram's horn. A series of blasts on the horn hail God as the "king and teacher of the universe," Lerman said.
In a break from tradition, the shofar will not be blown on Saturday, because that day also is the Jewish sabbath, a day of rest "when we put out hands down and realize we are guests in this world."
Source: The Chabad Enrichment Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a thriving Jewish presence in Northeast Georgia. 678-595-0196.
www.chabadenrichment.org.
—Mark Davis
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