Rebbe.IO

When Is Rosh Hashanah? Dates, Meaning & How to Observe

Rosh Hashanah next begins at sundown on Friday, September 11, 2026. Here is what it means and how it is observed, drawn from classic Jewish sources.

When is Rosh Hashanah?

Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown on the dates below (the Jewish day starts in the evening).

YearRosh Hashanah begins (at sundown)
2026Friday, September 11, 2026 (next)
2027Friday, October 1, 2027
2028Wednesday, September 20, 2028
2029Sunday, September 9, 2029

What is Rosh Hashanah?

What it is:

Rosh Hashanah (“Head of the Year”) is the Jewish New Year, observed on the 1st and 2nd of Tishrei (falling in September or October). It marks the beginning of the annual calendar cycle in the Jewish tradition.

What it represents:

Rosh Hashanah is fundamentally a day of spiritual reckoning and divine judgment. The Torah calls it “a day of remembrance” — specifically, the day when we ask God to remember us for good. It’s also called “a day of sounding the shofar,” the ram’s horn whose blasts are central to the holiday’s observance.

The holiday carries several interconnected themes:

1. Judgment and Accountability — Tradition teaches that on Rosh Hashanah, the entire world is judged. We’re invited to examine our deeds of the past year and commit to improvement.

2. Repentance and Renewal — The period emphasizes casting away sins and scrutinizing our ways, symbolized through the custom of Tashlich (casting bread crumbs into water). It’s a time to reset our spiritual “clothes” to white and innocent.

3. Joy and Celebration — Despite its solemn themes, Rosh Hashanah is also a holiday of joy. We feast, recite blessings over symbolic foods (apples with honey, pomegranates, etc.), and celebrate God’s sovereignty.

4. Connection and Presence — The chassidic tradition emphasizes the supreme importance of being present, physically and spiritually, on this day—it’s a time of deep connection to the Divine.

Rosh Hashanah opens the “Days of Repentance,” which culminate in Yom Kippur ten days later.

How Rosh Hashanah is observed

Rosh Hashanah—the Jewish New Year—centers on remembrance, repentance, and renewal. Here’s how it unfolds:

The Shofar

The shofar (ram’s horn) is the heart of the day. The custom is to sound it during the communal Musaf (additional) service, after the Torah reading. We hear a set sequence of blasts: tekiah (long blast), shevarim (three short blasts), teruah (nine staccato blasts), and tekiah again—repeated in different combinations. Rosh Hashanah is called “the Day of Remembrance” (Yom Hazikaron), when we ask God to remember us for good; the shofar’s sound is central to this plea.

On the Sabbath, when blowing is forbidden, we do not sound the shofar—only recite prayers about it.

Prayers

The liturgy emphasizes Malchuyot (God’s kingship), Zichronot (remembrance), and Shofarot (the shofar’s call) woven into the Musaf service. We pray for a year of blessing and ask God to inscribe us in the Book of Life. The day is solemn yet infused with hope.

Symbolic Foods

On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, we eat symbolic foods with declarations:

  • Apples dipped in honey — “May a sweet year be renewed on us”
  • Pomegranates — “May our merits be as many as pomegranate seeds”
  • Leeks, beets, dates, pumpkin — each with wordplay connecting the food’s name to a blessing (e.g., “may our enemies be wiped out”)
  • Head of a lamb — “Let us be as a head and not a tail”

These are signs of the good to come—so one should avoid anger and sour foods on this day, filling the heart instead with joy, trust in God, and the resolve to repent and do good deeds.

Two days of celebration mark the holiday; services and festive meals continue through both days. The overall spirit is one of spiritual reckoning mixed with confidence in renewal.

Sources

Educational note: Rebbe.IO is an AI study companion, not a posek. For a personal halachic ruling, please consult your rav.

Have a question about Rosh Hashanah? Ask the AI Rabbi for an instant, source-cited answer.