High Holiday Guide

Women and girls usher in Rosh Hashanah by kindling and blessing the candles by 18 minutes before sunset. 

We eat foods symbolizing sweetness, blessing and abundance for the New Year. We dip the Challah in honey, and begin the holiday dinner with apple dipped in honey.

Unlike the regular braided Shabbat Challah, the round High Holiday Challah resembles a crown, symbolizing the Divine coronation and wishes for a smooth and easy New Year.

A popular dish is Tzimmes a stew of carrots, sweet potatoes and prunes. A favorite pastry is taiglach, a pyramid of hollow dough balls covered with honey and topped by a maraschino cherry. Some serve the head of a fish. We also eat pomegranates, whose abundant seeds represent the many Mitzvah merits of every Jew.

Rosh Hashanah's highlight is the sounding of the Shofar. If one cannot participate in the whole synagogue service, they should try to at least hear the Shofar.

The Shofar sound touches our soul's innermost chords, crying from the heart like a lost child calling for its parent. The Shofar exclaims: "Awake from your sleep, and arise from your slumber. Examine your deeds, return, and remember your Creator." (Maimonides)

Proclaiming G‑d's coronation, the Shofar recalla historic events involving the ram's horn: the Binding of Isaac on Mount Moriah, the sound of the Shofar at Mount Sinai, and heralding the final Redemption with Moshiach, speedily in our days.

Before candle lighting a new fresh fruit (not yet eaten that season) is placed on the table, and eaten after reciting kiddush, before the hamotzi blessing on the Challah. Popular fruit choices include fresh (not dried) figs, dates, kiwi, mango or papaya.

On Sunday afternoon, following the services, we visit a lake or pond to recite the Tashlich prayers, symbolizing our 'casting away' of sin. As fish are fully dependent on water for their life, so are we dependent on Divine Providence.

The days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are 'Ten days of Teshuvah,' a time for repentance, personal reflection and improvement. During this week we increase our Torah study, giving charity, and general Mitzvah observance. The verdict of Rosh Hashanah's Judgement is not sealed until Yom Kippur's closing Neila prayer.

Still, the 'heavenly gates' remain open until Hoshanah Rabbah the following week; we are given yet another chance to improve our ways. Our repentance is welcome all year round, but these days are most opportune for coming closer to G‑d.

Monday, September 9, following Rosh Hashanah, we commemorate the tragic assassination of the last Jewish governor after the First Temple's destruction.

The Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, September 14, is Shabbat Shuvah, echoing the Haftorah: "Return O Israel to G‑d." The Rabbi delivers a special address to the congregation on Teshuvah and self introspection.

For the pre-Yom Kippur custom of Kapparot ("atonement"), a man uses a rooster, and a woman, a hen. Circling the fowl over the head, a prayer is recited and charity is donated. The Kapparot ceremony can also be observed by using money contributed to the needy.  We eat two festive meals, one at noon, the other about one hour before sunset

On Erev Yom Kippur it is customary to ask for a piece of lekach (honey cake) from another person, often the rabbi, a symbolic substitute for aid we may have been fated to beg in the coming year. The gesture also expresses a wish that the recipient enjoy a sweet year.

After the final meal, the father places his hands on the head of each child, reciting the Biblical blessing: "May G‑d make you like Efraim and Menashe (for a son), or "May G‑d make you like Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel, and Leah" (for a daughter).

Yom Kippur begins before sunset with candle lighting and blessing.

Beginning at sundown, Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the year. We are prohibited to eat or drink, wash our body or use lotion, wear leather shoes or have marital relations. White clothes are worn to symbolize purity.

After candle lighting, we rush to the synagogue for the Kol Nidrei prayer, when the Holy Ark and Heavenly gates are opened.

Kol Nidrei is chanted to a historic moving tune traced to the Jewish Marranos in hiding who used this opportunity to declare their faith defying the Spanish Inquisition.

We reflect on past misdeeds and resolve to improve in the future. We recite the Viduy confessing our sins, tapping our heart and asking forgiveness, as we enumerate sins we may have committed. Viduy is said in the plural ("We have sinned...), for all Jews are as one body, -we are responsible for each other. Yom Kippur atones only for sins against G‑d, but not for wrongs against people. We apologize and seek forgiveness for ill feelings during the year.

The Yizkor memorial prayer for family and friends is recited at the end of the morning service, and money is pledged to charity in their memory. The service includes the Avodah recalling the High Priest's Yom Kippur service in the Holy Temple.

The solemnity of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur culminates with the joy of Sukkot, which lasts 8 days. The first two and the last two days are full holidays, when we do not work, we attend Services, light the holiday candles and recite Kiddush on a cup of wine.

A time for family visits and outings days travel and limited work are permitted during the intermediate Chol Hamoed days. We bless the Four Kinds each weekday, and eat in a Sukkah- a booth or tent. When the Jews left Egypt and wandered in the wilderness, they lived in huts made of foliage. The Sukkah also recalls the protective 'clouds of glory' which surrounded Israel during their forty years in the desert.

All meals are eaten in the Sukkah, weather permitting. Some decorate and ornament the Sukkah; others prefer its unadorned natural simplicity. A Sukkah lacks the comforts of a house. No roof, the weak frame and foliage as frail and temporary as life itself. The rustic Sukkah suggests basic survival with Divine Providence. It is nice to look up to Heaven for a change, rather than to a plastered ceiling. Divine protection is our most enduring shelter. Even the richest mansion can't offer spiritual security and protection. The Sukkah is a great home improvement idea to remember all year round.

Each day of Sukkot (except Shabbat) we make a blessing and shake the 'Four Species' -the Etrog (citron), Lulav (palm branch), Hadassim (myrtle branches) and Aravot (w illow branches).

Some of the species are fragrant and tasty, while other are plain and simple, representing different types of Jews. Holding them together symbolizes our unity as a people: we need each another. The four species are waved in all directions, signifying that G‑d is everywhere.

Special Hoshanot prayers "Help us O G‑d" are said during the morning service, as we encircle the bimah seven times with lulav and etrog. We beat the aravot (hoshanot)- five bound willow twigs- on the floor five times.

Hoshanah Rabbah afternoon we eat a festive meal in the sukkah. Kiddush is not recited, but we eat Challa in honey, and delicious Kreplach symbolize severity covered by loving-kindness.

On Saturday, Shmini Atzeret, Yizkor is recited for departed family members. On Simchat Torah night (some also do so Shemini Atzeret night), we march seven hakafot encircling the Synagogue bimah platform, singing and dancing with the Torah scrolls.

The final Torah chapter is read Simchat Torah morning, completing the yearly cycle. Young and old are called to the Torah for an aliya, and we then start reading the Torah from the beginning.

"Sing and rejoice with the Torah...for it is our strength and light!" Simchat Torah unites Jews of all backgrounds. Young and old, rich and poor, observant or not, all share the Torah joy.

We celebrate Torah with joy, not as a burden. A Mitzvah that is dry rote and routine, without joy and spirit, is like a lifeless body without soul. This parable by the Dubner Magid illustrates how a joyless mitzvah misses the point: A diamond merchant once gave his son a hefty sum of money to purchase stones. When the son returned home with his purchase, the father saw him sighing and sweating under a heavy load on his back.

He realized his son's terrible mistake: "If he is 'kvetching' and complaining he must have the wrong merchandise. I meant PRECIOUS stones, and he bought worthless rocks. Had he bought what I really wanted, he would not have suffered it as a burden, but enjoyed it with delight!"

"Although all the holidays are joyous, Sukkos is an added celebration...The joy of doing a mitzvah, and the love of G‑d who commanded it, is a great service. It is unfortunate for a person to deprive himself of this joy, as it is written, 'Because you did not serve G‑d with joy and good heart'... One who remains aloof, considering the joy beneath his dignity...is foolish...All who participate in this joy are dignified and honored, serving G‑d with love, as David, King of Israel, says, "I am humbled, for the true greatness is to dance and sing before G‑d." (Maimonides)

Each part of our body has its own mitzvah; we pray with our lips, read with our eyes, light Shabbos candles and give charity with our hands. We study with our brain, love G‑d with our heart, and hear the Shofar with our ears. Every part of the body has its mitzvah, and every mitzvah has its day. On Simchas Torah, the feet have their day, as we march and dance with our feet, elevating and uplifting our whole body.