Rosh Hashanah: What is it? How is it celebrated? What do you eat and why?

Rosh Hashanah means 'head of the year' and is a special festival that celebrates Jewish New Year.

The festival dates vary from year to year. In 2024, it begins on Wednesday 2 October and ends on Friday 4 October.

The dates of Jewish festivals come from the Hebrew Calendar, so the Jewish New Year begins in autumn, as opposed to on 1 January.

Find out more about what Rosh Hashanah means and how it is traditionally celebrated below.

What does it symbolise?

Rosh Hashanah is a celebration of the creation of the world and marks making a fresh start.

It is a holy day on which Jewish people are not expected to work.

Instead it is a time for them to reflect on the past year and to ask for forgiveness for anything wrong they feel they have done.

They can also think about their priorities in life and what is important to them.

The festival represents a time of judgment too. Jewish people believe that God balances a person's good acts over the past year with their bad acts, and based on that decides what the coming 12 months will be like for them.

How is it celebrated?

During Rosh Hashanah, Jewish people will traditionally greet each other with L'shanah tovah, which means "for a good New Year".

Many Jewish families will spend some of Rosh Hashanah at a Synagogue. This is the name given to the building where Jewish people go to worship.

One of the traditions of Rosh Hashanah is to blow a big horn called a Shofar. One hundred notes are blown on the horn to create a special rhythm.

The Shofar is one of the world's oldest known wind instruments.

In this photo, children are seen blowing the Shofar

The sound of the Shofar marks the beginning of the 10-day period called the Days of Awe, leading up to another Jewish festival called Yom Kippur.

Yom Kippur is the most solemn day in the Jewish calendar. It means Day of Atonement and people don't eat or drink for 25 hours. It's a day to reflect on the past year and ask God's forgiveness for any sins.

What do you eat at Rosh Hashanah and why?

During Rosh Hashanah, food is also really important.

Slices of apple are dipped in honey to symbolise a sweet new year ahead. Honey cake is eaten too.

Slices of apple dipped in honey are enjoyed as part of the celebrations

Some Jewish people make a sweet carrot stew called tzimmes, and bread called Challah (or Hallah) is baked into a round shape to symbolise the circle of life and the end of the year. This is different to the plaited bread Challah loaf that Jewish people typically eat on the Sabbath.

You might also find a pomegranate on the table because there is a tradition that they contain 613 seeds. These represent one for each of the commandments a Jewish person is supposed to keep.