Jewish High Holidays

The Jewish High Holy Days, or High Holidays, consist of two major festivals that start at the beginning of the Jewish New Year. The two holidays, Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, are two of the holiest time periods for Jews.

Rosh Hashana

The Jewish New Year is meant to be a time of atonement, when one asks their friend for forgiveness and spends much time in temple praying for forgiveness. One of the central aspects of the holiday is the blowing of the Shofar, a horn that is hollowed out and is blown on both days of Rosh Hashana and at the end of Yom Kippur. Jews also dip applies in honey to signify that it should be a sweet new year.

Yom Kippur

The Day of Atonement, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, is a somber day of fasting and prayer. The fast starts at sundown the night before and continues until sundown the following night. At the end of the fast, the Shofar is sounded, and people then leave the temples and synagogues in order to go home and break their fasts. Yom Kippur is one of the most universally celebrated holidays in the Jewish calendar. It too is a time of forgiveness and appeasement amongst men.