If you've never grown up around Jewish tradition, holidays like Rosh Hashanah can feel like a mystery, unfamiliar words, unfamiliar customs, and no obvious connection to the Christian faith you know. But as we've explored before on this blog, Christianity did not emerge in isolation. It grew directly out of Jewish faith and scripture, and many of Judaism's sacred holidays carry meaning that speaks powerfully into our own walk with God, even today.
This year, Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown on Friday, September 11, and continues through nightfall on Sunday, September 13. Here in Israel, it is treated much like an extended Shabbat, businesses close, the pace of the entire country slows, and families gather to mark the occasion together.
What Is Rosh Hashanah?
Rosh Hashanah means "head of the year," and it marks the Jewish New Year, the beginning of the Hebrew calendar's seventh month, Tishrei. According to Jewish tradition, this is the anniversary of the creation of the world itself. It is a day of celebration, but also one of deep reflection, as the new year begins with an honest look back at the year that has passed.
Rosh Hashanah also opens what is known as the Ten Days of Repentance, or the Days of Awe, a period of self-examination and turning back to God that culminates ten days later in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
Its Roots in Scripture
Rosh Hashanah, as it's celebrated today, developed over time within Jewish tradition, but its origin traces back to the Torah itself. Leviticus describes a sacred day of rest at the start of the seventh month, marked by the blowing of trumpets, a commandment repeated in the book of Numbers as well.
That trumpet is the shofar, a ram's horn blown during Rosh Hashanah services, whose sound is meant to awaken the heart to repentance, to call people back to attentiveness before God. For Christians familiar with scripture's own trumpet imagery, in Paul's writing about the return of Christ, and throughout apocalyptic passages describing the last trumpet, there's something worth pausing on here. The shofar's call to wake up, to turn back, to prepare, echoes a theme scripture returns to again and again, regardless of testament.
How It Is Celebrated
Rosh Hashanah customs are rich with symbolism, most of it centered around hope for sweetness and renewal in the year ahead:
- The Shofar is blown throughout synagogue services, its raw, piercing sound meant to stir the soul to attention.
- Apples dipped in honey are eaten at festive meals, a simple, beautiful expression of hope for a sweet new year.
- Round challah bread is served instead of the usual braided loaf, symbolizing the cyclical nature of the year and the hope for a full, unbroken year ahead.
- Tashlich, a ceremony often performed near flowing water, involves symbolically casting away the past year's sins, sometimes by tossing bread crumbs or small stones into a river or sea, a physical picture of repentance and release.
- Family gatherings and festive meals mark both evenings of the holiday, much like a sacred, extended Shabbat.
The traditional greeting exchanged throughout the holiday is "Shanah Tovah," meaning "a good year."
Why This Matters for Christians
At its heart, Rosh Hashanah is about honest reflection and genuine turning back to God, what scripture calls repentance. This is not a foreign concept to our own faith. Scripture calls believers, throughout both testaments, to regular self-examination, to confession, and to the ongoing work of turning our hearts back toward the Lord, not simply once, but continually.
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." - 1 John 1:9 (ESV)
There is something beautifully instructive in the rhythm Rosh Hashanah offers, a set-apart time each year, entirely devoted to honest reflection, humility before God, and hope for what lies ahead. Christians don't observe Rosh Hashanah liturgically the way Jewish tradition does, but we can absolutely learn from its spirit. Many believers find real value in adopting a similar rhythm of their own, a season of the year, however small, deliberately set aside to reflect honestly, confess sincerely, and recommit to walking closely with God in the year ahead.
A Shared Story, Still Unfolding
Understanding holidays like Rosh Hashanah does not require adopting Jewish practice as our own. But it does deepen our appreciation for the soil our faith grew out of, and for the God who has been faithfully calling His people back to Himself, generation after generation, for thousands of years. As we said in our earlier post on the yad, honoring these roots does not dilute our own faith. It enriches it.
This year, as our Jewish friends and neighbors here in the Holy Land observe Rosh Hashanah, we find ourselves reflecting on the same themes scripture calls all believers toward: honest repentance, hope for renewal, and a heart turned toward the God who makes all things new.
Shanah Tovah, a good and sweet new year, to all who celebrate.