Celebrate Rosh Hashanah in 7 steps

1

Welcome the New Year

Rosh HaShanah is an opportunity to think about the year that has passed and to consider what you would like to take with you or leave behind. 

Here are some things you can do with your family

2

Send New Year Cards

We express our hopes that our friends and family will enjoy a great year ahead by sending greeting cards with a personal wish for their well-being in the new year.

It's also a time to make amends, consider what we could have handled better in our relationships and apologize for our mistakes so we can move towards a more positive future.

Here are some activities you can do

3

Wear White or Something New 

Some people wear white, others like to buy new clothes. Both symbolize purity and a 'fresh start' for the new year. 

4

Symbolic Foods

The meal begins with blessings over special foods. Each food has a specific meaning and a blessing that relates to the new year. 

We've create a holiday guide for you!

We've created a Kid (and adult) friendly step-by-step guide for the ceremony that includes the most common blessings with explanations and shortcuts. 

See our online holiday guide or order our modestly priced printed ceremony guide.

5

The Dinner

Rosh Hashanah dinner is a feast! Multiple courses are served including chicken soup, a fish appetizer, a main course (with sides) and dessert.  For those who keep kosher (follow the Jewish dietary laws), no dairy ingredients are used.

We put together a sample meal for you as an inspirataion. 

See our Rosh Hashanah meal

6

Hear the Shofar

The shofar, a musical instrument made from a ram's horn, has been blown on Rosh Hashanah since biblical times and religiously it's considered a symbol of the biblical story of Abraham's sacrifice of a ram in place of his son Isaac.

Today, some go hear the Shofar blow in synagogue. on the morning after the meal.

Buy a Shofar

7

Empty Your Pockets

Rosh HaShanah is an opportunity for a new beginning. 'Tashlich' is a tradition in which people empty their pockets of crumbs and lint and throw them into the water. This represents throwing the mistakes they have made away, so that they don't carry them over to the next year. 

Here are some things people do

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