This week, Jewish communities celebrate the New Year

The Jewish calendar is not a solar calendar as our Roman calendars are, but a lunar calendar. So it travels differently from ours. This week, they celebrate the New Year, which in Hebrew is Rosh ha-Shanáh, literally, the head of the year, similar to the Italian capo d'anno. Let's see what we can learn about the Jewish New Year, from myjewishlearning.com. We could use bullet points:

• occurs at the beginning of the month of Tishrei, actually the seventh month of the Jewish Year, which is counted from the spring month of Nisan. It is characterised by introspection, evaluating the old year and preparing for the new.
• it is a two-day festival, and is followed by ten days of repentance (the days of Awe) and then the major fast day of Yom Kippur (the day of Atonement). At the beginning of the previous month, Elul, the shofar (a horn) is sounded in preparation for all of this. 
• Rosh ha-Shanah, also called the Yom Hadin (day of Judgement), when God opens the books of Life and Death (to review the past year), which are then sealed twelve days later, on the Yom Kippur. This festival is not in the Bible per se, but is linked to a royal enthronement ritual from the times of the old Hebrew monarchies. It can only guessed as to why the seventh month starts a new year: for example, as a memory from an the ancient exile in Babylon, when the Babylonian calendar was partially adopted.
• a circle-shaped (symbolising the eternal cycle of life) traditional bread called the challah is eaten, dipped in honey for sweetness. Apples are also eaten with honey.
• liturgically, the prayer book Mahzor is used in sections, each section ending in the shofar being blown. This ram's horn is a reminder of the covenant between God and Israel.

I shall make an effort, as our Jewish friends begin their new year, to learn a little more about their traditions and practices. A year ago, I found this book in a charity shop. It's time to actually read it. I think there'll be another page on this blog appearing on the sidebar in due course, centring on the Jewish religion.