You’ve spent a month morally and spiritually preparing for this day, and now you express the new you in the highest way humanly possible—by recognizing G-d as the ultimate King of the Universe.
Right and wrong or good and evil have no foundation if there is no founder—which is exactly what Rosh Hashanah is all about: beginning the New Year in the right frame of mind for life in general and declaring on this day what our attitude and philosophy will be for the coming 364 days.
Festive Meals
On each night and day of Rosh Hashanah we enjoy a festive meal.
On the first night, at the beginning of the meal, we symbolically ask G-d for a “sweet” New Year by eating a slice of apple dipped in honey.
On the second night of Rosh Hashanah, we enjoy a new fruit that we haven’t eaten in the past 12 months (i.e. Pomegranates or Fresh Figs)—another new symbol for a New Year.
Monday, Sept. 10.
The Shofar, Your Personal Wake-Up Call—Each day of Rosh Hashanah, one hundred sounds are blown from the shofar (ram’s horn), the oldest and most primitive of wind instruments. Its call strikes the innermost chords of the soul, and its sound is simple and plaintive—a cry from the heart, like a lost child wailing for its parent.
The shofar also coronates G-d as King of the Universe—and evokes key Jewish historical events that involve a ram’s horn.
After the Binding of Isaac, Abraham sacrificed a ram in place of his son. According to ancient midrashic writings, one of its horns was blown 363 years later when the Jewish People gathered at Sinai to receive the Torah. The same midrash states that the second horn will herald the coming of Moshiach, the true Messiah, and the final redemption of the Jewish People.
Wishing all a happy and joyous Rosh Hashanah followed by a great year 5779, we will be having services at the Chabad Center.
Chabad of Topanga Jewish Center is located at 1459 Old Topanga Canyon Road, Topanga, CA 90290. For more information: (310) 455-1597; rabbiweiss@hotmail.com; ChabadofTopanga.com.
By Rabbi Y. Dovid Wei