2. Beginning with the first day of
Elul, we blow the Shofar every
morning.
We continue to blow every
morning through the day
before Erev Rosh Hashanah,
making Ram Pickup Trucks the
ultimate Rosh Hashanah car!
3. No
m’s a t th
ra RA e
his M ho
w t ! pi rn
blo orn c k of
We h up
!
4. The reason we do this,
is to wake up the people to do Teshuva.
TOOT!
FINE! I’ll
go do
Teshuva!
5. On Erev Rosh Hashanah we
do not blow the Shofar.
No!
What!?
Are you
another me?
We don’t blow the Shofar on the last day of Elul for two reasons:
1. To mix up the Satan.
2. To show a difference between Minhag and Mitzvah.
6. And this is the
reason we don’t
mess with Elmo on
Rosh Hashanah
7. Beginning Elul through
Shemini Atzeret, we say Li
David Hashem Ori during
Sacharit and Mariv (Mincha
for those who daven Sefard)
8. ָ ְ מto have their תפילין
ִ ִּ
ְ
Many people have a ִנהג
and Mezuzah checked.
10. During this time,
when we write a
letter to a friend, we
add the words
“May
You Be Written and
sealed for Good”
11. From the Saturday night before Rosh Hashanah until Yom
Kippur, we get up early in the morning, each day, and say
selichot. Selichot are prayers that we recite asking
Hashem to forgive us for the wrong deeds we did.
Sephardim say Selichot all month
Ha
Ha!!! I get to say
Selichot all
month!
12. ערב ראש השנה
On Erev Rosh Hashanah we
wake up earlier than usual in
order to go to shul to say the
special סלחיחו תfor this day.
ְֹ חיִ ת
The סלחיחו תare much longer on
ְֹ חיִ ת
Erev Rosh Hashanah than the
rest of the week.
Oh man! I
should have
gone to
Shul!!
13. There is a Minhag to fast on Erev Rosh Hashanah to
show the seriousness of the time.
14. Say hataras nedarim
It is customary to perform hataras
nedarim (annulment of vows)
This is a way of canceling any vows or
promises that may have been made in
the past year, but haven't been kept.
This should be said in front of a
tribunal of three men.
15. A person should have his/her haircut in honor of the Yom Tov
I’m gonna
sue you
Supercuts!
22. Having different signs
Round Challahs
During the High Holidays, a
round challah is used --
symbolizing fullness and
completion
23. Dipping the Challah in honey
We dip the Challah in honey (so that we should have a sweet
year).
24. Why do we ask for both a "good" AND
"sweet" year? Doesn't the word "good"
automatically include "sweet?"
Judaism teaches that everything happens for
the good. It is all part of the divine will. Even
things that may look "bad" in our eyes, are
actually "good." So when we ask God that the
year should be "sweet" (in addition to good),
it is because we know that everything will be
for the good. But we also ask that it be a
"revealed" good -- i.e. one that tastes "sweet"
to us.
25. We dip a piece of apple into (honey) and
say "May it be Your will, God, to renew
us for a good and sweet new year.
26. ple
No
ap tT
his ey ap H
t
ip on pl AT
e d In h e!
W
27. Let’s see what
And that’s what
happens when
we dip anwhen
happens apple
you dip your
PHONE in
apple Phone in
honey.
honey.
28. Why do we choose apples above other
sweet fruits?
Isaac blessed Jacob with the words:
"The fragrance of my son is like the
fragrance of a field which Hashem has
blessed…" (Bereishis 27:27). The
Talmud identifies this "field" as an
apple orchard. (Ta'anis 29b, Biyur
Hagra)
Also, apples are not special fruits. They
are found all over and are not expensive.
We are using them as a sign of a sweet
New Year to say we are grateful to
Hashem for whatever he gives us . Even
simple and ordinary things.
29. On a pomegranate we say:
May it be Your will, Lord our God and
God of our forbears, that our
merits increase like the seeds of
a pomegranate
By the way the Ari
Zal says that one
Shall Not eat purple
grapes on Rosh
Hashanah.
30. There is also a custom to eat the head of a ram,
sheep, cow, or fish to symbolize the wish that we
may also be at the head and not the tail .
31. On carrots we say:
May it be your will, Hashem our G-d
and the G-d of our forefathers...that
our merits increase.
The meal may also include a
dish containing carrots-since
the Yiddish word for carrots,
,מערחיןcan also be translated
to “multiply”. We ask
Hashem to help us increase
our mitzvot and good deeds
and to multiply our people.
32. On the second night of Rosh Hashanah it is
customary to wear a new garment or to have a new
fruit on the table when saying the shehechiyanu
blessing. Thus, the shehechiyanu blessing applies
not only to the holiday, but to the new garment or
new fruit as well.
(This is done in
order to
accommodate the
minority of
halachic
authorities who
rule that no
shehechiyanu
blessing be said
on the second
night of Rosh
Hashanah.) (Taz
600:2)
33. There is an old Minhag to go a flowing body of water after Mincha
of the first day (best with fish) and say certain Teffilot. We are
symbolically throwing away our Aveirot.
Of course, it is foolish to
think you can rid sins by Both the body of water
Also, the fact that shaking out your and the fish are
fish's eyes never pockets. symbolic. In The
close serve to Rather, the Jewish Gemara, Torah is
remind us that, so approach is deep represented as water.
too, God's eyes (so introspection and Just as fish can't live
to speak) never commitment to change without water, so too a
close; He knows of Jew can't live without
our every move Torah!
Indeed, the whole idea of "Tashlich"
is partly to commemorate the Midrash
that says when Avraham went to the
Akeida (binding of Isaac), he had to
cross through water up to his neck
