The High Holidays:

The Jewish high holidays are the ones that are most important to us and the most holy.

The Jewish high holidays are Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur.

Holy means sacred or very important & religious.

Rosh Hashanah

What is Rosh Hashanah?

Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year.

Rosh Hashanah is a celebration, but not a party.

Rosh Hashanah is a chance for Jewish people to think about how they can have a better new year.

Rosh Hashanah is when Jewish people start over reading the Torah, which is the Jewish Bible.

Rosh Hashanah happens at a different time of year than the regular New Year, because Jewish holidays follow the lunar calendar.

The lunar calendar is a calendar that follows the moon. Our regular calendar follows the sun.

Why do we celebrate Rosh Hashanah?

On Rosh Hashanah we go to synagogue, where we sing and pray.

We also think about all the things that we are thankful for and we thank God for them.

A synagogue is a place we pray - like a church.

The Shofar:

We announce Rosh Hashanah by blowing the shofar. The shofar is very hard to blow. It takes a lot of practice.

We blow specific sounds:

-Tekiah means "stability."

-Shevarim means "sadness."

-Teruah means "waking us up to be what we should be."

-Tekiah Gadola means "going back to the start to fix when we have been wrong."

A shofar is a ram's horn that makes a loud noise.

What do you eat on Rosh Hashanah?

On Rosh Hashanah we eat apples and honey

to have a sweet new year.

We also eat a round challah to show to show the circle of the next year.

Challah is a braided bread that we eat at special meals.

You wish someone a happy new year on Rosh Hashanah by saying "Shana Tovah."

It means "have a sweet new year."

This is how you write "Shana Tovah" in Hebrew.