Rosh Hashanah

Jewish New Year - strong rabbinic link - anniversary of the day when God created Adam and Eve

'three book are opened on Rosh Hashnah' - 'one for the completely wicked, one for the completely righteous and one for those in-between' - Fate of those inbetween in suspended until yom kippur

Ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur - known as the ten days of returning - during this period they are supposed to consider their behaviour and repent

'a tormented soul find peace in confessing'

Rosh Hasnahah - God Judges all people for their deeds during the previous year, Yom Kippur - God's decisions are finalzed

Main Focus is on people and their relationship with God

'Repententance and atonement stand at the height of Jewish spiritual life' - Pilkington - Rosh Hashanah has a less focus on human beigns as sinners and more on god as King 'On new year we acknowledge him as king; may he reign over us and within us' - Reform Machzor - People need to restore a senes of god in the world, the sense of the spiritual that is a prerequiste for atonement' - Pilkington

Month preceding Rosh Hashanah is a time for preperation for the spirutal deamdns of RH and YK - reciting Selichot or prayers of forgiveness - encourage self examinationa andspiritual awareness

On the eve of Rosh Hahnah - a special slchot is said at the synagogue - held at midmight - '13 attributes of mercy' - believed to be revealed to moses on mount sinai - Adoni (god is merciful pre sin), Adonai (god is merciful to sinners), God El (devotes might), compassion, gracious, slow to anger, abundant in good, abundant in truth, merciful, forgiver of inquirty, forgiver of whose who sin, forgiver of error, one who cleanses

Customary to wear white at Rosh Hashnah - clean of all sin - covers on the bimah, ark and lectern are white - 'though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow' - Isaiah

Prayers from the mazchor -Daily prayer (Amidah) is recited with some ammendements including references to additional prayers that focus on kingship, remembrances and shofarot - we ask to be remebered by god and we clare out desire for dependtion'- On leaving the synagogue - jews bless each other with the words 'may you be written down for a good year'

Custoamry food - round challot - represent a crown - de lange suggests that it is where 'the sweetness of the festival comes out' - apples dipped in honey - eat food that has not been eaten during the past season - usually a pomergrate - 613 seeds = 612 mitzvot

Shofar - ram horn - sbraham showing absolute faith in God - 'at the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, moses spoke and the voice of god answered him' - also used at worship at the temple - Tekiah - a single long note - shavrim - consists of 2 shoter notes and teruah nine of more very short note

Maimonides - use of shofar as a device to wake the people from their clumber 'awake sleepers from your sleep'

Many traditional jewish communities observe the tasklikh - literally translates to 'to cast'

incolves symbollic casting away of sin of the previous year by tossing pieces of bread into a body of flowing water

'and you will cast their isns into the depths of the sea' - micah

de lange notes that there is no mention of this practic ebefore the 15th century and therfore it might be an adaptation of a pagan ritual

Many traditional jews will shake their clothes and empty their pockets of crumbs as a symbol of casting off every trace of sin

Hebrew word for reprentance is tushvah which means repenting- The shabbat that falls between the weak of the ten days of repenting - shabbat shuvah - this provides jewish people the opptunity to take stock of their lives - god does not forgive done to another person unless one has first asked that person for forgiveness

Day before Yom Kippur is seen as a time perpatation - some families give donations to charity as this is a time of year when concern for the poor is emphasized

A goat used to be driven out of jersualem after the sins of the peopel had been symbollically transferred to it - symbol of the sins of the past year

at the temple in jersualem there was a custom of slaughtering a chicken and giving it to the poor in a festive meal - some othodox still follow this but most just donate to chairty

Fast of 25 hours - aim is not to be punished but rather to focus only on spiriutal matter

they do not wear leather shoes as they are seen as a luxury- men often wear a kittle and the women wear white dresses - #when he is clothed in his shroud, and in the prayers of these days, he is also alone' - Franz Rosenwig

De lange coined the phrase 'a yom kippur jew' - a jewish perosn who only celebrates yom kippur

5 services are held at the synagogue - Opening service of Yom Kippur - Kol Nidrei - 'may these vows not be vows, may these oaths not be oaths

Morning service is followed by the musaf which includes a step by step account of what they would've done at the temple - the aim of the service is to realise peope from feeling guilty

afternoon service includes a reading of the book of jonah with a teme of repentance - last service is the neilah or the closing of the gates - 'the lord is god' is repeated seven times

when nightfall comes there is a single blast of the shofar announcing that the fast is now over- the havadalah cermony is performed at home and the fast is broken