WHAT IS ROSH HASHANAH?
October 4th is the second day of the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah, which means Head of the Year. Unlike Gregorian New Year, which on January1st is going to be 2025, this holiday commemorates the 5785th birthday of the first human being Adam and his wife Eve.
In the Torah, the first human beings were created on the sixth day of creation. This date is also the birth of the concept of time and the recognition that there is a King creator, who uses nature in its manifestation.
Some people consider this as the end of the cycle and the birth of the new one. Another point of view can be that this is not a cycle, but rather a spiral, which started long time ago; however, every year it arrives to the same point of time.
Those Jews who follow the tradition, spend two days praying in the synagogue. It is believed that on that day, God decides on the destiny of each of us for the next year. However, we all have a chance to change the decree over the next ten days, which culminates in the Day of Atonement – Yom Kippur. This day is spent in fasting and praying.
Since Adam represents all of humanity, this holiday relates not only to Jews; so all of us still have time to reflect on our lives and perhaps consider some changes. One of the traditions of this holiday is to eat apples dipped in honey.
Three images of apples illustrating this story convey my artistic expression.
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