Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year festival that begins on the first day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei.
Rosh Hashanah lasts for one or two days, depending on Jewish tradition and location, and begins the Jewish High Holy Days. It is a time of prayer, reflection, and celebration, often marked by communal services, festive meals, and foods such as apples dipped in honey to symbolize hopes for a sweet year.
The shofar, a ram’s-horn trumpet, is a central ritual object. Its blasts are heard during synagogue services on Rosh Hashanah, except when the holiday coincides with Shabbat under the relevant observance rules. The festival is followed ten days later by Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
Rosh Hashanah does not fall on a fixed Gregorian date. Because the Hebrew calendar is lunisolar, it usually occurs in September or October in the Gregorian calendar.