Fun Food, Cards and Blessings at Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah

 

Cards for Rosh Hashanah, New Year. Symbols for the sweet New Year are apples and honey. Photo of cards by Angela Lansbury.

Rosh Hashanah means Head (Rosh), (of), The (ha), Shanah (New year).  The lunar calendar date for Rosh Hashanah 2021 is from Sundown Monday Sept 6 to sundown  Wednesday Sept 8. In Israel most holidays are celebrated for one day. However, because other countries further away overlap by two days, to be sure of celebrating the whole holiday and the right time, two celebrations are held. If relatives cannot attend because they are holding their own celebrations, they can come to you on the second night. Alternatively, the hostess on the first night can give a daughter or sister or sister in law the leftovers of food and tableware to make it easier for the other person to hold a second celebration of the holiday on the second night.

You can see and buy Jewish New Year greeting cards online such as on Amazon and in newsagents and stationery shops.

We arrived early. We were asked to arrive at 7.15. We wondered whether that was arrive earlier for a prompt start at 7.15, or Jewish time, any time after 7.15.

We checked the time of sunset. We set off and arrived early enough to sit in the garden drinking kosher blush wine. Because of the baby grandchild, who does not yet have any sense of time, we started late.

Our meal started with the pre-meal blessing over wine, known as the kiddush. I was impressed by the wine dispenser which I have shown in an earlier post. 

The first blessing was over wine, the second over bread or fruits of the earth. the blessing starts with the word for bless and ends with the word for wine. (I listen for ha - the gafem - drinkwine? or eretz/aitz - land adom/adam/adum - earth.)

The meal started with the apples and honey which you see on many cards. We dipped apples slices in honey and then sesame seeds.

A good time was had by all.

Useful websites

Transliteration of blessings from Hebrew to English

https://18doors.org/blessings_over_bread_and_wine/#:~:text=Kiddush%20(Blessing%20over%20wine)&text=of%20the%20vine.-,Phonetic%20Hebrew%20transliteration%3A,%2Day%20peri%20ha%2Dgafen.

Jewish greeting cards

https://www.moonpig.com/uk/personalised-cards/p/shanah-tovah-hand-and-floral-card/dvr089-sq/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw4eaJBhDMARIsANhrQAAxVYLDRBx8RAJOn2Q5MGGtRsOgh7xDYQrHy7kiGr9SfiP4VaR3aN4aAspEEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds&size=13&utm_campaign=shopping&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google