HIGH Holy DAY GUIDE

Before Rosh Hashanah we ask forgiveness from anyone one who we may have wronged during the previous year.  As much as possible, we want to begin the year with a clean slate - and without others harbouring grudges against us.  We are encouraged to be gracious in forgiving those who have wronged us.

Many people have the custom to go to the mikveh before Rosh Hashanah after midday.  A mikveh, which has the power to purify from certain types of spiritual impurities, can be an important part of the Teshuvah process.

Many have the custom of visiting the cemetery on the morning before Rosh Hashanah and praying at the graves of the righteous.  Of course, we do not pray "to" the righteous, but only to G-d who hears our prayers in the merit of the righteous.

The morning before Rosh Hashanah, we perform "Hatarat Nedarim" - annulling all vows.  In Torah terms, saying something as simple as "I refuse to eat any more chocolate" can be considered a legal vow.  Therefore, before Rosh Hashanah, we annul any vows, whether they were made intentionally or not.  This is done by standing in front of three adult males (or a Minyan if available), and asking to be released from the vows that were made.  The full text can be found in a Siddur or Machzor.

Festive foods

During the High Holy Days, a round challah is used - symbolizing fullness and completion.  After making the "Hamotzi" blessing, it is customary to dip the bread into honey - symbolizing our desire for a sweet new year.

We then take an apple and dip it in honey and say, "May it be Your will,
G-d, to renew us for a good and sweet new year."

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 G-d 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.

SYMBOLIC FOODS

On Rosh Hashanah, we eat foods that symbolize good things we hope for in the coming year.

The symbolic foods are based on a word game which connects the name of a certain food, to a particular hope we have for the new year. Here are some examples:

After eating POMEGRANATE, we say: "May it be Your will, G-d, that our merits increase as the seeds of a POMEGRANATE."

Some eat the HEAD of a sheep (or a fish, slightly less daunting) and say: "May it be Your will, G-d, that we be as the HEAD and not as the tail.

ROSH HASHANAH PRAYERS

In the "Amidah" and "Kiddush" for Rosh Hashanah, we say the phrase Yom Teruah, a day of Shofar Blasts.  However, if Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbat, we say Zichron Teruah instead. (If one inadvertently said the wrong phrase, he needn't repeat the prayer.)

The supplication "Avinu Malkeinu" should be said on Rosh Hashanah, except when Rosh Hashanah and Shabbat coincide, since supplications are not said on Shabbat.

During the High Holy Days, the curtain on the ark is changed to a white one, to symbolize that our "mistakes will be whitened like snow."  White is also a symbol of purity and holiness.

THE SHOFAR

The essential mitzvah of Rosh Hashanah is to hear the sounding of the shofar.  The shofar blasts after the Torah Reading are called "Tekiot M'yushav".

It is customary to blow shofar in the same place that the Torah is read, so that the merit of the Torah will support us.  The shofar should be blown during the daytime.  In ancient times, when the Romans persecuted the Jews, the rabbis instituted blowing the shofar before Musaf, since the Romans had guards in the synagogues during the early morning.

The person who blows the shofar stands.  The shofar is not blown when Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbat.

The shofar used on Rosh Hashanah should be a curved ram's horn, and longer than four inches.  It is permitted to use the shofar of an animal which was not shechted.  Any shofar is acceptable except the horn of a cow, ox or an unkosher species of animal.  The reason we avoid the cow is that we don’t want to remind G-d, in the midst of our repentance, of the sin of the Golden Calf.

In the "Amidah" prayer of Musaf, there are three special blessings: Malchiot (praises to G-d the King), Zichronot (asking G-d to remember the merits of our Ancestors), and Shofrot (the significance of the shofar).  During the chazzan's repetition, we blow an additional 30 blasts in the various combinations.

It is the custom to blow 40 extra blasts at the end of services, bringing the total to 100.  It is customary to prolong the final blast, which is called a Tekiah Gedolah.

TASHLICH

The "Tashlich" prayer is said this year on the first afternoon of Rosh Hashanah by a pool of water that preferably has fish in it.  These prayers are symbolic of the casting away of our mistakes.  Of course, it is foolish to think you can rid sins by shaking out your pockets.  Rather, the Jewish approach is deep introspection and commitment to change.  Indeed, the whole idea of "Tashlich" is partly to commemorate the Midrash that says when Abraham went to the Akeida (binding of Isaac), he had to cross through water up to his neck

If "Tashlich" was not said on Rosh Hashanah itself, it may be said anytime during the Ten Days of Repentance.

Both the body of water and the fish are symbolic.  In Talmudic literature Torah is represented as water.  Just as fish can't live without water, so too a Jew can't live without Torah!  Also, the fact that a fish's eyes never close serve to remind us that, G-d's eyes (figuratively speaking) never close; He knows our  every move.

YOM KIPPUR: ANGEL FOR the DAY

What are "angels?" Angels are completely spiritual beings, whose sole focus is to serve their Creator.  On Yom Kippur, every Jew becomes like an angel.

As the Maharal of Prague explains, "All of the mitzvot that G-d commanded us [on Yom Kippur] are designed to remove, as much as possible, a person's relationship to physicality, until he is completely like an angel."

Just as angels stand upright, so too we spend most of Yom Kippur standing in the synagogue.  And just as angels wear white, so too we are accustomed to wear white on Yom Kippur.  Just as angels do not eat or drink, so too, we do not eat or drink.

FIVE ASPECTS

There are five areas of physical involvement which we abstain from on Yom Kippur.  They are: Eating and Drinking; Washing;  Applying oils or lotions to the skin; Marital Relations; Wearing Leather Shoes.

TESHUVA AND FORGIVENESS

Following the Golden Calf, Moses pleaded with G-d to forgive the people.  Finally on Yom Kippur, atonement was achieved and Moses brought the second set of Tablets down from Mount Sinai.  From that day forward, every Yom Kippur has carried with it a special power to cleanse the mistakes of Jews (both individually and collectively) and to wipe the slate clean.

However whilst Yom Kippur atones for transgressions against G-d, this does not include wrongs committed against other human beings. It is therefore the universal Jewish custom - some time before Yom Kippur -- to apologize and seek forgiveness from any friends, relative, or acquaintances whom we may have harmed or insulted over the past year.

Teshuvah does not really mean ‘repentance’, but it means ‘return’.  Teshuvah is the process of coming full circle, of returning to our roots, reconnecting to G-d, going back to where we were in the first place.  This does of course involve regret and concern for past deeds but is somewhat more spiritual than mere ‘repentance’.

THE FAST ITSELF

The Yom Kippur fast begins at sundown, and extends 25 hours until the following nightfall.  On the afternoon before Yom Kippur, it is a special mitzvah to eat a festive meal.

As far as making your fast easier in general, try to pace your intake throughout the previous day by eating something every two hours.  At the festive meal itself, eat a moderate portion of food so as not to speed up the digestion process.  Also, avoid any caffeinated drinks, because caffeine is a diuretic.  Heavy coffee drinkers can also avoid the dreaded headache by slowly reducing the amount of coffee consumption over the week leading up to Yom Kippur.   After a meal we generally get thirstier, so when you complete the festive meal, leave some extra time before sundown to drink.  Also, drinking lukewarm water with some sugar in it can help make you less thirsty during the fast.

If someone is ill, and a doctor is of the opinion that fasting might pose a life-danger, then the patient should eat or drink small amounts.  Consult Rabbi Mordechai for more information as there are clear Halachic guidelines and precedents for these situations.

SUCCOT

Following Yom Kippur we celebrate Succot, the Festival of Tabernacles, "the season of our rejoicing".

"In the Succot (booths) you shall dwell for seven days" (Leviticus, 23:42)  The Succot remind us of the clouds of glory that surrounded and protected our people, after leaving Egypt, during their forty years of wandering through the desert on the way to the Promised Land.  It inspires us to believe that today too, G-d protects us in His special way, and that is why the Jewish people have outlived their greatest adversaries throughout the generations.

The commandment of dwelling, eating and spending time in the Succah is unique in that the entire person is involved in the commandment, or mitzvah.  The mitzvah of Succah encompasses every part of the body.  Every limb and cell of the person is completely submerged, surrounded and encompassed.

SIMCHAT TORAH

Simchat Torah comes on the last day of the festivities.  At this time the last portion of the Torah is read, and since we never truly finish the Torah reading, we begin the reading from the very beginning again to show the Torah is beloved to us like a "new command to which everyone runs".   This is a very happy occasion.  All of the Torah scrolls are taken from the Ark and paraded around the synagogue seven times.  We rejoice, sing and dance with the Torahs, re-establishing our covenant with the Torah, just as a groom rejoices with his bride.  For the Torah is betrothed to Israel as a wife is to her husband.

Children are given gifts of sweets and fruit because it is stated that the "commandments of the L-rd are sweeter than honey."

We dance with the Torah scrolls closed, rather than opening them to study or read, to highlight the fact that the Torah is the heritage of every Jew, even if they do not know how to study it.

The Four Species

The mitzvah of shaking the Lulav & Etrog is recorded in the Torah in Leviticus 23:40.  We are commanded to take four species, the Etrog, a member of the citrus fruit family; a lulav, a branch from date palm; a branch of a willow tree; and a branch from a myrtle bush.

Whereas in many instances if we are unable to assemble all the necessary components for the mitzvah we may still perform it with the available parts, the mitzvah of the Four Species may only be performed if we have all four of the items required.

Tradition teaches us that the four species which range from one with a pleasant taste and fragrance to one which has neither taste nor fragrance represent the whole spectrum of the Jewish nation from those who are knowledgeable and observant of Jewish law and tradition to those that are less so.

Yet the mitzvah of shaking the lulav and esrog can only be performed when all four species are brought together.  Thus the lulav and esrog symbolise the fact that all Jews are part of one nation and that each member has a responsibility to the others.