Rabbi 360

How to Celebrate Rosh Hashanah

1. Dip apple in honey and eat it. This symbolizes the wish for a fruitful and sweet year.
2. Make a nice dinner on Erev Rosh Hashanah and share it with family and friends. Alternatively you can have a nice lunch/early dinner on the afternoon of the first day of Rosh Hashanah. There are a lot of interesting recipes for the holiday, check online.
3. Make a “Rosh Hashanah resolution”: set a goal, commit to something new.
4. Go to services. Here is the schedule for my congregation, Temple Beth Hatfiloh. A great way to connect with community, with God, with yourself. Sing, pray, talk, reflect.
5. Wish people you know “L’shana tova” (a good year). Also wish people you don’t know a “L’shana tova”
6. Call up someone you haven’t spoken to in a while and get caught up.
7. Hear the shofar. This is one of the traditional obligations for Rosh Hashanah. But don’t just hear the shofar, listen to what it is trying to tell you.
8. Take seriously the opportunity to do heshbon hanefesh—accounting of the soul. Really look deep inside. What do you want to change about yourself? Remember, the goal isn’t to make yourself feel bad…we all have stuff we need to work on.
9. Do Tashlikh. Go to a body of water and toss some bread on the afternoon of the first day of Rosh Hashanah. Empty your pockets and toss out the crumbs. We are casting off our burdens from the past year. (Join your Olympia community at 4:30 p.m. at the Port Plaza or meet at 4:00 p.m. at TBH if you want to walk together)
10. Get outside—visit the beach, the woods, or just go for a walk. Rosh Hashanah is “the new year of the world.” So go give nature a hug.