Eating apples and honey, or other sweet things, is traditional on the Jewish New Year. Courtesy/LAJC

By Rabbi Jack Shlachter
Los Alamos Jewish Center

Beginning on Wednesday evening, Oct. 2, 2024, Jews around the world will usher in the major holiday called Rosh HaShanah, literally “Head of the Year”. (See the end of this column for Los Alamos Jewish Center’s schedule of holiday services).

This holiday is Biblical in origin, first alluded to in the Book of Leviticus 23:23-25 where the Jews are commanded to observe a sacred day on the first day of the seventh month. Already there’s a conundrum!  Why is this called the head of the year when it’s the beginning of the seventh, not the first, month? The phrase Rosh HaShanah does come up once and once only in the Jewish Bible, this time in a later section, viz., Ezekiel 40:1, but there it’s clearly referring to a different holiday which lands on the tenth day of the seventh month, a day which is known as Yom Kippur. Yet another puzzle!

Now that we’re all thoroughly confused, it should be recognized that the holidays described in the Jewish Bible have evolved over the past several thousand years.  Jews no longer have a Temple and no longer offer sacrifices, yet we retain a memory of those days of old while realigning the meaning of the holidays to address more modern concerns with contemporary sensibilities.

In the passage above from Leviticus, as well as in Numbers 29:1-6 and Psalms 81:4-5, this first day of the seventh month is associated with blowing a horn, and the tradition even today is to mark Rosh HaShanah with repeated blasts on an animal horn, typically from a ram. The universal symbol of the holiday is indeed this horn, known in Hebrew as a shofar. Today, Rosh HaShanah is one of the more widely observed synagogue-based holidays of the year. In the synagogue setting, many prayers are recited, often with an emphasis on repenting for misdeeds of the past year and pledges of self-improvement for the new year.

The shofar is blown at various points during the service by someone who has mastered this skill – the ideal candidate is a French horn player! The noise of the shofar is intended to wake us up to the fact that life is finite, and we need to take seriously the idea of making amends to those we’ve hurt while resolving to do better moving forward.

This season focused on repentance culminates on the tenth day after Rosh HaShanah with the solemn holiday of Yom Kippur, literally the Day of Atonement, perhaps the most well attended synagogue day of the year. Yom Kippur is marked by abstaining from food and drink to emphasize the seriousness of our determination to mend our ways.

There is an aspect of universality to Rosh HaShanah; according to tradition, the first human being was created on this day, the first day of the seventh month on the Jewish calendar. So what happened on the first day of the first month, six months out of phase from Rosh HaShanah? That day marks the beginning of the process leading to the release of the Jews from slavery in Egypt and is thus particularistic, celebrating the birth of the Jewish people, rather than universal, celebrating the birth of all people. 

Rosh HaShanah festivities are notably different from conventional observances of the secular new year.  This reflects the introspection associated with the Jewish New Year, and while Jews wish each other a sweet new year (and eat foods made with honey to manifest that sweetness), there is an aura of seriousness during these fall holidays that is perhaps lacking on Dec. 31/Jan. 1.

Nonetheless, it is always joyous to see friends and relatives in the synagogue on both Rosh HaShanah and on Yom Kippur. Services for both these holidays will be held at the Los Alamos Jewish Center, 2400 Canyon Road, just down the street from PEEC Nature Center. The Los Alamos Jewish Center welcomes long-standing members as well as newcomers to the community to join in the holiday services and  activities. All are welcome, no tickets are required … and if you are a Jewish French horn player – you’ll be especially welcome!

Los Alamos Jewish Center High Holiday schedule:

• Rosh HaShanah (Jewish New Year)
• Evening service, Wednesday Oct. 2 at 7 p.m.
• First day service followed by community lunch, Thursday Oct. 3 at 9 a.m. (children’s service 9:30 a.m.) followed by community lunch
• Tashlich at Ashley Pond, Thursday Oct. 3 at 5 p.m.
• Rosh HaShanah second day, non-traditional contemplative service, Friday Oct. 4 at 10 a.m.
  
• Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)
• Kol Nidre, Friday Oct. 11 at 6 p.m.
• Yom Kippur day (including yizkor memorial service), Saturday Oct. 12 at 9 a.m. (children’s service 9:30 a.m.)
• Afternoon and concluding service at 5 p.m., followed by community Break-the-Fast kosher-style potluck.

For additional information about the Los Alamos Jewish Center, go to www.lajc.org, or write to losalamosjewishcenter@lajc.org. To contact Rabbi Jack Shlachter directly, email physicsrabbi@gmail.com.