Rosh Hashanah: The Jewish New Year
Yom Kippur: The Day of Atonement
The season that is book-ended by Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur is known as the Ten Days of Atonement: the season on our calendar that our tradition devotes to personal introspection. As we reflect on the choices we've made in the year that has just passed, we are inspired to pursue teshuvah (repentance) in order to improve our lives and strengthen our relationships for a more meaningful year ahead.
Click here and here for general information on the holidays.
Elul, the Jewish month immediately preceding Rosh HaShanah, has long been understood as a time of preparation for the High Holy Days. Elul is the perfect time to study a little bit about the holidays. Consider a book like S.Y. Agnon's classic Days of Awe, Reuven Hammer's Entering the High Holy Days, or Kerry Olitzky's Preparing Your Heart for the High Holy Days. You should also check out the incredible online Elul resource known as Jewels of Elul.
For a copy of the blessings that might be recited at your Rosh HaShanah meal, click here.
There's a lovely (though less well known) custom connected to meals marking the Second Day of Rosh HaShanah. Check out this fun video about it:
Click here and here for general information on the holidays.
Elul, the Jewish month immediately preceding Rosh HaShanah, has long been understood as a time of preparation for the High Holy Days. Elul is the perfect time to study a little bit about the holidays. Consider a book like S.Y. Agnon's classic Days of Awe, Reuven Hammer's Entering the High Holy Days, or Kerry Olitzky's Preparing Your Heart for the High Holy Days. You should also check out the incredible online Elul resource known as Jewels of Elul.
For a copy of the blessings that might be recited at your Rosh HaShanah meal, click here.
There's a lovely (though less well known) custom connected to meals marking the Second Day of Rosh HaShanah. Check out this fun video about it:
Speaking of food, click here for some Rosh HaShanah recipes and click here for Yom Kippur break-fast recipes.
For pre-school friendly activities for the holidays, click on the .pdf file here. And for elementary and middle school age students, click here, and then click on Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur on the left side of the page. Note: some of the resources are free, and some have a cost attached to them.
And finally, no holiday observance would be complete without some meaningful Jewish music! Our own Cantor Becker recommends the following:
For pre-school friendly activities for the holidays, click on the .pdf file here. And for elementary and middle school age students, click here, and then click on Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur on the left side of the page. Note: some of the resources are free, and some have a cost attached to them.
And finally, no holiday observance would be complete without some meaningful Jewish music! Our own Cantor Becker recommends the following:
- Inscribed by Craig Taubman
- Birthday of the World Part I-Rosh Hashanah and Birthday of the World Part II-Yom Kippur by the Western Wind
- Further Definitions of the Days of Awe by David Chevan and the Afro-Semitic Experience
- Tekiyah: Echoes of the High Holy Days at B'nai Jeshurun