List: '10 Facts About Rosh Hashanah'

Today’s ‘List Friday’. In the Gregorian calendar, days begin at midnight. But in the Hebrew calendar they begin at sunset. Thus the Jewish New Year – 5771 – began at sunset on Wednesday 8 September [1]. The first day of the New Year, called Rosh HaShanah (ראש השנה, literally ‘head of the year’), is a Jewish festival [2]. It marks the start of what are called the High Holydays; and also the start of the Ten Days of Penitence which end with the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur, which for Jews is the holiest day of the year). Today’s list, ‘10 Facts About Rosh HaShanah’, for some reason comes in two parts [3, 4]. These ‘10 Facts’ are a good introduction for anyone wanting to know about Rosh HaShanah, and a good refresher for others. Though I’m a secular Jew, the sound of the Shofar (ram’s horn) [5] never fails to stir me. And then there’s the food – especially apple and honey, and honey cake, to symbolise the hope of a sweet new year. As Fact 5 says, ‘When greeting one another, a common salutation is L’shanah tovah (which means ‘for a good year’)’. And so, dear Farmdoc’s Blog reader, whether you’re Jewish or not, I wish you L’shanah tovah.