Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year. The anniversary of the Creation, it is a time for self-examination and repentance. Ancient people had no organized New Year, but rather calculated the year from the new moon nearest to the beginning of the barley harvest in spring (at Passover) or to the ingathering of the fruits (Sukkot) in autumn. Rosh Hashanah, which is celebrated in early autumn, was eventually adopted as the beginning of the festal year, and today it is one of the great solemn days in Judaism. See judaism.