Happy Rosh Hashanah from Galliford Try

Tonight, Jews around the world will come together with family and friends to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year festival. Lasting until Tuesday evening, it is a period of reflection on good and bad deeds from the last year, and provides an important step in deciding what the next year will be like.

In synagogues worldwide, Jews observe Rosh Hashanah with prayers and reflection. Special meals feature apples and honey to provide a sweet year ahead; carrots to represent increasing merit; a round loaf of bread symbolises the circle of life, while the many seeds of pomegranates serve as a reminder of the 613 Jewish commandments.

It is a day of judgment when many Jews ask for forgiveness and hope that their names and those of their loved ones will be noted in the Book of Life.

Jacob Edelstein, Graduate with Galliford Try Building North West, talks to us about how he observes this important time. We wish everybody celebrating a Happy Rosh Hashanah

What is Rosh Hashanah?

The words Rosh Hashanah mean “Head of the Year” or “First of the Year”, meaning looking forward to the New Year and representing a very reflective time.

I am quite religious and every Friday night until Saturday night I observe Shabbat (a period of rest) which involves turning off all electronics, and we don’t switch on any lights that aren’t already turned on. I don’t drive the car, write, use the laptop or use phones.

For Rosh Hashanah, it will be the same from Sunday night until Tuesday night. It's the start of a 10-day period of penitence, culminating in Yom Kippur, which is the time of year when all your actions from the year are judged, and the next year and how it will be is set.

How do you celebrate Rosh Hashanah?

We will see people for meals, go to the synagogue and pray three times a day, and eat special symbolic foods on Sunday night. Each food has a special blessing and makes you think of something you should aim for in the next year by making you mentally and spiritually aware of the direction that you going in.

We have carrots, for which the Hebrew word is also similar to the Hebrew word for edict in English, so that you will have a good edict. We have pomegranates, which have many seeds, representing the 613 commandments that a Jew is obliged to keep.?We have apples dipped in honey so you will have a sweet new year.

A ram’s horn, a shofar is sounded. It’s very loud and piercing so in a way it’s sobering and humbling, and breaks through the all the layers of day to day life and gets through to who you are to give you a moment of thought.

What do you enjoy most about Rosh Hashanah?

This time of year is great because it gives you the chance to look back look at what you've done wrong or what you could have done better and take forward all the good things that you've learned and make the next year even better – whether the moment was good or bad. It’s a bit like a snagging list. The prayers never mention penitence, and the reason why is so you make commitments and look forward to a more positive future.

Every week when Shabbat comes around, it’s the best day of the week for me. You switch everything off and think of who you are and where you are and can be present. Rosh Hashanah does the same. For me it’s a source of energy and give some a strong basis to know who I am.