The month of Tishrei is coming up! That means that Rosh Hashana is around the corner. Though many will be excited because there is no school on Rosh Hashana, there is much more to be excited about than just that…

Many customs come with the holiday of Rosh Hashana: dipping the apple in honey, eating pomegranate seeds, and blowing the Shofar. Each of these customs is done to symbolize something about the coming year. We dip apples in honey to symbolize the coming of a sweet new year, we eat pomegranate seeds to symbolize the abundance of Mitzvot we will do in the coming year, and we blow the shofar as a wake-up call to remind us to reflect on our actions from the past year. These customs come to remind us of a new year and a fresh start. 

According to Jewish tradition, Hashem created the world on Rosh Hashana. In Hebrew, Rosh Hashana is called by two names: Rosh Hashana and Yom HaDin. “Yom HaDin” means “The Day of Judgment.” It is called this because on Rosh Hashana (and in the ten days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur) Hashem is judging us. Hashem decides everything that will happen to us in the coming year. This doesn’t mean that Hashem is only deciding what “bad things” will happen to us. Hashem’s goal is for us to become the best people we can be, so what we interpret as “bad” things are only there to help us grow. In the days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, we have to strive to become better people: to do more mitzvot, be kinder to the people around us, etc. An easy way to do this is by demonstrating Hillel’s “five pillars”: Emet, Kavod, Chessed, Shalom, and Ruach. 

Shana Tova U’Metuka!