Study Sheet – High Holidays: Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur

1. The Month of Elul – Preparation

Elul is the month of repentance preceding Rosh Hashanah. Selichot (penitential prayers) are recited. The shofar is sounded every morning (except Shabbat and the eve of Rosh Hashanah). It is a time for introspection and reconciliation.

Hatarat Nedarim (annulment of vows) is recited on the morning before Rosh Hashanah.

2. Rosh Hashanah – The Jewish New Year

Dates: 1-2 Tishrei.

Three names:

• Rosh Hashanah (New Year)
• Yom HaZikaron (Day of Remembrance)
• Yom HaDin (Day of Judgment)

Central themes: God judges every creature (Malkhuyot — divine sovereignty), remembers their deeds (Zikhronot — memory), and the shofar blast (Shofarot) calls to repentance.

According to tradition, on Rosh Hashanah God inscribes each person in one of three books: the Book of Life (the righteous), the Book of Death (the wicked), or an intermediate register whose outcome is sealed on Yom Kippur. Hence the greeting "Gemar chatimah tovah" (may you be sealed for good).

The specific mitzvah: hearing the shofar (100 blasts).

3. The Shofar

The shofar is a horn from a kosher animal (usually a ram, recalling the Binding of Isaac). It calls to repentance and proclaims God's sovereignty.

Three types of blasts:

• Tekiah: one long, straight note (call to attention)
• Shevarim: three broken notes (groaning, repentance)
• Teru'ah: nine rapid staccato notes (cry of the heart)
• Tekiah Gedolah: one very long blast, closing Yom Kippur

100 total blasts are sounded. The Rosh Hashanah Musaf is the longest service of the year: 9 blessings (Malkhuyot, Zikhronot, Shofarot), with shofar blasts during each section.

4. The Simanim (Symbolic Foods)

• Apple dipped in honeya sweet year
• Pomegranatemerits as numerous as its seeds
• Date (tamar)may our enemies perish (yitamu)
• Leek (karti)may our enemies be cut off (yikaretu)
• Beet (selek)may our enemies depart (yistalku)
• Squash (kera)may evil decrees be annulled (yikare'u)
• Head of ram or fishto be at the head, not the tail
• Round challotthe cycle of the year

Tashlich: ceremony at a body of water on the first afternoon, symbolically casting one's sins into the water.

5. The Yamim Nora'im (Days of Awe)

The ten days from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur are the Yamim Nora'im (Days of Awe) or Aseret Yemei Teshuvah (Ten Days of Repentance). A period of intensified teshuvah.

Shabbat Shuvah (Shabbat of Return): the Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Fast of Gedaliah (3 Tishrei): commemorates the assassination of Gedaliah ben Achikam, the Jewish governor who maintained Jewish life in Judea after the Temple's destruction.

6. Teshuvah (Repentance)

Teshuvah (return to God) according to Maimonides (Hilkhot Teshuvah 2:2):

1. Recognize the transgression
2. Feel sincere regret
3. Confess verbally (vidui)
4. Commit not to repeat the act

Teshuvah is complete when, facing the same situation, one acts differently.

7. Yom Kippur – The Day of Atonement

Date: 10 Tishrei. Fast duration: 25 hours (the only Torah-mandated fast).

It is a mitzvah to eat on the eve of Yom Kippur (9 Tishrei).

Kapparot: an atonement ritual on 9 Tishrei (swinging a chicken or money above one's head).

One dresses in white to resemble the angels.

The five services

1. Kol Nidrei + Arvit (eve)
2. Shacharit + Torah reading
3. Musaf (includes the Avodah — reenactment of the High Priest's Temple service, with full prostration)
4. Minchah + Torah + haftarah (Book of Jonah)
5. Ne'ilah (closing)

Kol Nidrei: an Aramaic declaration recited three times at the onset of Yom Kippur, annulling unintentional vows to God. Ancient and deeply moving melody, possibly linked to the Marranos. Does not affect commitments to other people.

Vidui (confession): recited while striking the chest for each transgression listed. Recited at every Yom Kippur service.

Ne'ilah ("closing"): the fifth and final prayer, the most intense of the year. The formula shifts from "inscribe us" to "seal us in the Book of Life." It concludes with a long shofar blast (Tekiah Gedolah), the Shema (once), Barukh Shem (three times), "Hashem hu haElohim" (seven times).

After Yom Kippur: Havdalah, then building the sukkah begins.

Key Takeaways – Summary