As the sun sets at 6:33 p.m. on Wednesday, local Jewish communities will welcome Rosh Hashanah – a two-day festival that combines celebration and reflection and marks the start of the Jewish New Year.

Here’s what you need to know about this holiday.

What is Rosh Hashanah?

According to Britannica, Rosh Hashanah begins on the first of Tishri, the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar. The High Holidays usher in a ten-day period of reflection on our relationship with God and culminate in Yom Kippur, the second High Holiday.

“It’s very celebratory. We thank God for nature. We thank God for our lives. We thank God for the renewal for another year,” said Rabbi Niles Goldstein of Beth Shalom Congregation in Napa. “But we also examine our lives over the past year, acknowledge our mistakes, and commit to becoming better people in the year ahead.”

Although Rosh Hashanah is not specifically mentioned in the Torah, Judaism’s founding religious text, it does refer to a holy occasion that occurred around the same time. The holiday was likely established before the sixth century, but the phrase “Rosh Hashanah” first appears in the Mishnah, a Jewish legal code compiled in 200 AD, according to the History Channel.

This year, the High Holiday falls on the first anniversary of the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people and captured 250 hostages in southern Israel.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, Israel launched an intensive military offensive following the attack that killed more than 40,000 Palestinians.

Rabbi Irwin Keller of Ner Shalom Congregation in Cotati said that as the Israel-Hamas war continues, Jews should focus even more on looking inward.

“(Rosh Hashana) is the beginning of what we call the 10 days of repentance. It is a time of introspection, a time to examine our actions and our commitments. “I suspect that many Jews will do so with particular gravity and pain this year,” Keller said.

“During this time it is important for Jews to come together in community. We have a ritual based on difficult moments that we can lean on.”

Goldstein said he would “incorporate prayers, practices and symbols to commemorate what happened a year ago and what continues to unfold in Gaza and Israel and now throughout the Middle East.”

One of these practices is to provide a chair for non-released hostages.

When is Rosh Hashanah?

This year, the celebrations begin at sunset on Wednesday, or 6:33 p.m., and last until nightfall on Friday.

How to celebrate

Rosh Hashanah is marked by events such as services in synagogues, meals with traditional foods and lit candles.

The playing of the shofar, a trumpet made from a ram’s horn, is an essential part of the festival. The shofar is blown after the reading of the three prayers during Musaf, the additional service, in the synagogue.

Around 100 shofar blows are said to be heard over the course of the holiday.

After the service, many people meet for traditional meals. According to Chabad.org, the menu could include bread — traditionally round loaves of challah — dipped in honey in hopes of a sweet year and apple slices dipped in honey for the first night.

On Rosh Hashanah, Jewish people typically greet each other with the Hebrew phrase “L’shana tovah,” or “for a good year.”

Where to celebrate in Sonoma, Napa counties?

There are several locations where residents can gather for Rosh Hashanah services and celebrations, including:

Sonoma County:

• Joseph Weingarten Chabad Jewish Center, 2461 Summerfield Road, Santa Rosa
• Congregation Shomrei Torah at 2600 Bennett Valley Road, Santa Rosa
• Congregation Beth Ami, 4676 Mayette Ave., Santa Rosa
• Ner Shalom Congregation, 85 La Plaza, Cotati
• Chabad Jewish Center of Petaluma, 205 Keller St., #101, Petaluma
• Shir Shalom Congregation, 252 W. Spain St., Sonoma
• B’nai Israel Jewish Center, 740 Western Ave., Petaluma

Napa County:

• Congregation Beth Shalom at 1455 Elm St., Napa

Reach Staff Writer Madison Smalstig at [email protected]. On X (Twitter) @madi.smals.