Rosh Hashanah 2008

Rosh Hashanah 2008 is underway. Rosh Hashanah, which is considered along with Yom Kippur to be one of the most important Jewish holidays has begun. Rosh Hashanah is the beginning of the High Holy Days and marks the Jewish New Year 5769. For many Israelis, it is a time of repentance and prayer, leading up to the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement.

According to the Torah: "On the seventh month, on the first day of the month, there shall be a sacred assembly, a cessation from work, a day of commemoration proclaimed by the sound of the Shofar."

The seventh month referenced is based on the Jewish calendar. Here in the U.S., we use the Gregorian calendar, so you can understand how our New Year's day is quite different from Rosh Hashanah. Using the Jewish calendar, Rosh Hashanah occurs on the first day of Tishrei, or the seventh month of the year.