Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah (ראש השנה) is a celebration of the Jewish New Year, which began yesterday at sundown and lasts through Friday night. Welcome to 5768 everybody!

The traditional greeting on Rosh Hashanah is "Shana Tova" Hebrew for "A Good Year," or "Shana Tova Umetukah" for "A Good and Sweet Year." Because Jews are being judged by God for the coming year, a longer greeting translates as "May You Be Written and Sealed for a Good Year" (ketiva ve-chatima tovah).

Some Rosh Hashanah facts:

• characterized by the blowing of the shofar, a trumpet made from a ram's horn
• begins 163 days after the first day of Passover
• can never occur on the first, fourth or sixth days of the Jewish week