The evening of September 22, 2025 will launch the Jewish New Year of 5786, underscoring family bonding, human fallibility, and the continuous evolution of one’s character and the benefits of renewal, judgment and reflection through:
1. Self-examination. Rosh Hashanah initiates a wake-up call of ten days of self-examination and repentance, which are concluded on Yom Kippur (the Day of Repentance). This self-examination should be guided by morality-driven tenacity, determination, humility and faith, re-studying moral values and avoiding past errors.
The root of the Hebrew word Shanah is “repeat” (every year) and “change.”
2. Genesis. Rosh Hashanah commemorates the 6th day of Creation, when the first human-being, Adam, was created. Adam is the Hebrew word for a human-being (אדמ), which is the root of the Hebrew word for “soil” (אדמה) – a metaphor for humility. The Hebrew word for Adam is, also, an acronym of Abraham, David and Moses, who were role model of humility.
The Hebrew word Rosh (ראש) means first/head/beginning and Hashanah (השנה) means the year. Rosh (ראש) is the root of the Hebrew word for Genesis (בראשית), which is the first (Hebrew) word in the Book of Genesis.
Rosh Hashanah is celebrated on the first day of the Jewish month of Tishrei – “the month of the Strong Ones” (Book of Kings A, 8:2) – when the three Jewish Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) and the Prophet Samuel were born. Tishrei means beginning/Genesis in ancient Acadian. The Hebrew letters of Tishrei (תשרי) are included in the spelling of Genesis (בראשית). Furthermore, the Hebrew spelling of Genesis (בראשית) includes the first two letters in the Hebrew alphabet (אב), a middle letter (י) and the last three letters (רשת) – representing the totality of the Creation.
3. Responsibility. The late Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, the iconic Talmudic scholar, compared the calendar year to a human body, consisting of the head/brain, the heart and the liver. Thus, on Rosh Hashanah (head/brain) one contemplates the vision of the coming year, while the rest of the year facilitates the implementation of the vision in a balanced coordination between the head/brain, heart and the liver of the year.
4. The Shofar (a ritual ram’s horn). Rosh Hashanah is announced and celebrated by the blowing of the (bent/humble) Shofar, the horn of the humble and determined non-predator ram. The initial blowing of the Shofar is indicated in Leviticus 23:23-25 and Numbers 29:1-6: “a day of blowing the shofar.”
The Hebrew spelling for Shofar שופר)) is a derivative of the verb to enhance and improve שפר)).
The sound of the Shofar was used to alert people to physical challenges (e.g., military challenges). On Rosh Hashanah, the Shofar alarms people to spiritual challenges – a wakeup call for enhancing one’s behavior.
The Shofar represents “peace-through-strength,” as demonstrated by the peaceful ram, which is equipped with powerful and deterring horns.
In ancient times, the blowing of the Shofar was employed to announce the (50th) year of the Jubilee – the Biblical role model of liberty: “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land and unto all the inhabitants thereof (Leviticus 25:10).” The Jubilee inspired the US Founding Fathers’ concept of liberty as inscribed on the Liberty Bell, as it inspired the US Abolitionist, anti-slavery movement.
The English word Jubilee is derived from the Hebrew word Yovel, which is a synonym for horn-Shofar.
5. Commemoration. The 100 blows of the Shofar commemorate the creation of Adam, the first human-being; the almost-sacrifice of Isaac, which was prevented by a ram; the receipt of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai; the tumbling of the walls of Jericho upon re-entering the Land of Israel, which was facilitated by the blowing of the Shofar; Judge Gideon’s war against the Midianites, which featured the blowing of the Shofar; and the reaffirmation of faith in God, the Creator (“In God We Trust”). The blowing of the Shofar underscores the transformation from despondency (the destruction of the two Temples in Jerusalem and the ensuing exiles) to fulfilled optimism (the ingathering to – and the reconstruction of the Land of Israel).
The 100 blows of the Shofar are divided into three series, honoring the three Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob), the three parts of the Old Testament (the Torah, Prophets, Writings) and the three types of human beings (pious, mediocre, evil).
6. Pomegranate. On Rosh Hashanah, it is customary to eat seeds of pomegranate, which is one of the seven Biblical species of the Land of Israel (wheat, barley, grapes, dates, figs, olives and pomegranates), representing health (high in iron, anti-oxidants, anti-cancer, enhances cardiac and digestion systems), righteousness, fruitfulness, fertility, longevity, learning and wisdom.
7. Honey. Rosh Hashanah meals include honey, sweetening the coming year. The bee is the only insect which produces essential food. It is a community-oriented, constructive and a diligent creature. The Hebrew spelling of bee (דבורה) is identical to “the word of God” (דבור-ה’), and Deborah דבורה)) who was one of the seven Jewish prophetesses, as well as a military leader.
May it be a year of victory and liberation for the Gaza Hostages
Top Stories @ Fox News