Days of Awe
Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur
The 10 day period beginning with Rosh Hashanah and conclusion with Yom Kippur are referred to by some as the Days of Awe or the 10 Days of Teshuvah (repentance). This beginning of the Jewish yearly holiday cycle offers opportunities for personal reflection and communal connection.
Chabad Center for Jewish Life: Orthodox | 2640 W. 96th St., Carmel | 317-251-5573 | chabadindiana.org | rabbi@lubavitchindiana.com
Congregation Beth-El Zedeck: Reconstructionist/Conservative | 600 W. 70th St., Indianapolis | 317-253-3441 | bez613.org | bez613@bez613.org
Congregation Beth Shalom: Reform | 849 W. 96th St., Indianapolis | 317-306-5644 | bethshalomindy.org | info@bethshalomindy.org
Congregation B'nai Torah: Orthodox | 6510 Hoover Rd., Indianapolis | 317-253-5253 | btorahindy.org | office@btorah.org
Congregation Shaarey Tefilla: Conservative | 3085 W. 116th St., Carmel | 317-733-2169 | shaareytefilla.org | office@shaareytefilla.org
Etz Chaim Sephardic Congregation: Sephardic Orthodox | 6939 Hoover Rd., Indianapolis | 317-251-6220 | etzchaimindy.org | president@etzchaimindy.org
Humanistic Judaism: 317-721-2747 | HumanisticJewsIndy@gmail.com
Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation: Reform | 6501 N. Meridian St., Indianapolis | 317-255-6647 | ihcindy.org | info@ihcindy.org
Temple B'nai Israel: Reform | 618 W. Superior St., Kokomo | 765-452-0383 | TempleBnaiIsraelKokomo@gmail.com
Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah occurs in the fall, around September or October, on the first and second day of the Jewish month of Tishrei. Rosh Hashanah 2024 begins at Sundown on Wednesday, October 2 and ends Friday evening, October 4.
Rosh Hashanah, literally meaning "head of the year," is the Jewish New Year. In sources it is also referred to as Yom Hazikaron, the Day of Remembrance; Yom Teruah, the Day of the Sounding of the Shofar; and Yom Hadin, the Day of Judgement. While it is a happy, festive holiday, it is more solemn than the secular New Year. This time of year focuses on Teshuva, acknowledging and fixing a past wrongs; this is done through reflecting on our past year’s actions, and owning up to our mistakes and decisions in order to begin the New Year with a clean slate.
Rosh Hashanah is a day of many beginnings. Judaism teaches that Rosh Hashanah is the collective birthday of humankind. It is also the New Year for counting years (Talmud Bavli, Seder Moed. Rosh Hashana 2a), in terms of planting and calculating Sabbatical and Jubilee years.
Many holidays are celebrated for two days in the Jewish Diaspora, outside of Israel, and only one day in Israel. Rosh Hashanah is an exception, as it is celebrated by some communities for two days both in and outside of Israel and considered in sources as yoma arichta, a long day (Eruvin 39a)
It is a mitzvah to hear the blowing of the shofar (ram's horn, recalling the story of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac to G-d and then replacing him with a ram, which is read on Rosh Hashanah). The shofar sound acts as a call to attention and reminder of the holiday's purpose: to look inward and repent for the sins of the past year. One can ask themselves the following questions when hearing the shofar: What is my purpose in this world? How have I been doing? How can I improve? The different blasts tell a story of the year, starting with a long blast representing the beginning of the year full of clarity and goals, followed by short “broken” blasts which is where one goes off-track; the shofar blasts end with a long blast, symbolizing the ability to straighten our lives out and start fresh.
There are several symbolic foods eaten on Rosh Hashanah, including apples dipped in honey (for a sweet year), round challah bread (for the cycle of life), the head of a fish (so that everyone partaking may be at the "head" of whatever they aspire to do in the new year), and a "new" fruit (for the newness of the year) that one has not tasted before or for a long time, like a pomegranate. In Sephardic or Mizrahi communities, there is a custom to have seder, much like on Passover, during which participants recite blessings over a variety of foods that symbolize wishes for the coming year.
In the Days of Awe liturgy, Rosh Hashanah represents the opening of "Book of Life" and the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (when the book is closed and sealed for the year) are a time for us to perform teshuvah and advocate that we remain inscribed there. Some begin this process even earlier, throughout Elul (the last month of the Jewish year, leading up to Rosh Hashanah). A traditional greeting around Rosh Hashanah is "Shana tovah," or "A good year."
Online Holiday Resources & Opportunities:
CONGREGATION BETH-EL ZEDECK
CONGREGATION BETH SHALOM
CONGREGATION B’NAI TORAH
CHABAD LUBAVITCH OF INDIANA
INDIANAPOLIS HEBREW CONGREGATION
CONGREGATION SHAAREY TEFILLA
TEMPLE BETH EL MUNCIE
For families with children - PJ Library offers their 2020 Quick Guide to Celebrating High Holidays at Home with kids The guide includes crafts, activities, and book suggestions to keep your family engaged.
Gateways, an organization dedicated to promoting the meaningful inclusion of individuals of all abilities in Jewish life has created resources for families and children. Check out their visual supports for services as well as holiday activities.
Filled with insights from Hadar’s faculty, this holiday reader resource offers the chance to dive into meanings of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot. A great companion to your High Holidays experience.
From the team behind Haggadot.com, a new platform for DIY High Holiday rituals and guides. Recommended is the Seeker Season guide beautifully illustrated by Jessica Tamar Deutsch.
Be'chol Lashon, an organization raising awareness about ethnic, racial and cultural diversity of Jewish identity and experience, has compiled a variety of stories, recipes, and articles to enhance your High Holidays.
From Pardes, a Rosh Hashana companion to help start your year off on the right foot with even more depth and meaning to your holiday.
Looking for sustainable Rosh Hashanah resources? Indulge in tasty recipes and pick up some great tips from Hazon.
Rosh Hashana not only means a new year but also new holiday cards! Check out this exploration of some Israeli holiday cards and greetings from the iCenter.
Tzom Gedaliah
Tzom Gedaliah occurs on the 3rd day of the Jewish month of Tishrei in September or October. A minor fast day, some communities fast from sunrise to sundown as well as add special prayers and readings to daily services. If the 3rd of Tishrei falls on Shabbat, the fast is postponed until the 4th of Tishrei.
Tzom Gedaliah 2024 occurs on Sunday, October 6.
According to traditional sources, The Fast of Gedaliah was added to the Jewish yearly cycle following the murder of Gedaliah ben Achikam, a Jewish governor appointed to govern the Jewish people who remained in the land following the Babylonian exile and the destruction of the first Jewish Temple. Sources in the Talmud cite the establishment of this fast to teach that "the death of the righteous is equivalent to the burning of the [Jewish] Temple" (Talmud Bavli, Seder Moed, Rosh Hashanah 18b). On Tzom Gedaliah, the selichot prayers (added in the month and weeks leading up to Rosh Hashanah) are recited
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur falls on the 10th day of the Jewish month of Tishrei (nine days after the first day of Rosh Hashanah), in September or October. Yom Kippur 2024 begins at sundown on Friday, October 11 and ends Saturday, October 12.
Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement, when individuals and whole communities atone for their sins over the past year and ask that they be inscribed in the "Book of Life," which is closed and sealed for the upcoming year at the end of Yom Kippur. Part of that process for many begins before Yom Kippur when individuals ask for forgiveness in their interpersonal relationships. Yom Kippur is then a day to mend one’s relationship with the Divine by atoning for their past transgressions.
Traditionally there are five prohibitions on Yom Kippur. These prohibitions customarily apply to those over bar or bat mitzvah age (12 or 13 years old) and the prohibitions last for 25 hours, as Yom Kippur is a major fast lasting from sunset to the following nightfall. On Yom Kippur, individuals abstain from eating and drinking, washing, anointing, physical intimacy, and wearing leather. There is a tradition to wear white on Yom Kippur, symbolizing purity and emulating the garb of the Kohan Gadol (High Priest of the Jewish Temple) who only entered the Holy of Holies in the Temple on Yom Kippur. Some also refrain from wearing gold jewelry as it is a reminder of the sin of the Golden Calf. If one has medical concerns about fasting, please speak to a doctor and Rabbi.
Yom Kippur is often referred to as “Shabbat Shabbaton”, the Sabbath of Sabbaths, as Shabbat is said to be the holiest day of the week and Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the year. This day also is the only fast on the Jewish calendar permitted to coincide with Shabbat; all other fasts are pushed to the next day when they fall on Shabbat. Before Yom Kippur begins, people may partake in the separation meal, Seudah hamfseket, separating the weekday from the most holy day of the year. This is a festive meal with challah dipped in honey like on Rosh Hashanah. It is said that if one partakes in this meal, it is as if they fasted an entire day. Additionally before the day begins, some partake in a kaparot ritual (from the same root as "Kippur," meaning atonement), taking an object of value and revolving it around their head, symbolically transferring one’s spiritual blemishes in Tzedakah, into something that will feed the poor and support others.
Yom Kippur’s services differ from a regular service. On Yom Kippur, there is a designated holiday prayer book, machzor, just for the services of the day. Yom Kippur services begin in the evening with Kol Nidre, the annulment of unintentional and unfulfilled vows. Yom Kippur Day, a special yizkor service takes place; this service is a remembrance of the deceased, particularly a parent, which occurs on the three festival holidays and Yom Kippur. In each service of Yom Kippur, viddui (confessional) is recited. Yom Kippur ends with Neilah, the closing service which is where both the day ends, and the Book of Life is sealed. There are special Torah readings for Yom Kippur; the Book of Jonah is read as the afternoon Haftorah as a reminder that atonement can be done by anyone.
Traditional greetings include "Tzom kal" ("Have an easy fast", though some argue that an easy fast may not be as meaningful) and "G’mar chatima tovah" ("May you be sealed [in the Book of Life] for a good year ").
Online Holiday Resources & Opportunities:
CONGREGATION BETH-EL ZEDECK
CONGREGATION BETH SHALOM
CONGREGATION B’NAI TORAH
CHABAD LUBAVITCH OF INDIANA
INDIANAPOLIS HEBREW CONGREGATION
CONGREGATION SHAAREY TEFILLA
TEMPLE BETH EL MUNCIE
10Q emails you a reflective question a day for 10 days. Afterwards, you send your answers to the secure online vault. One year later, your answers are unlocked and returned and the process begins anew.
Yom Kippur: A Guide for the Perplexed - resource collection from Tablet Magazine all about the High Holidays at home
This Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, add social justice elements to you High Holidays experience. This resource from AJWS includes readings, text studies, and commentaries on the High Holidays and social justice themes.
From Bina, an Israeli movement for Jewish culture and social activism, a Yom Kippur at Home guide feature readings and a Ritual Guide for the Pre Fast and Break Fast Meals