What.... Rosh Hashanah

Pre-Rosh Hashanah
A key component of Rosh Hashanah preparation is to ask for forgiveness from anyone we may have wronged during the previous year. To the greatest extent possible, we want to begin the year with a clean slate – and without anyone harboring a grudge against us. Similarly, we should be quick to forgive those who have wronged us.

Many people have the custom of going to the mikveh before Rosh Hashanah after midday. A mikveh, which has the power to purify from certain types of spiritual impurities, can be an important part of the teshuva process.

Some have the custom of visiting a cemetery on the day before Rosh Hashanah and praying at the graves of the righteous. Of course, we do not pray "to" the righteous, but only to God who hears our prayers in the merit of the righteous.
The morning before Rosh Hashanah, we perform "Hatarat Nedarim" – annulling of vows. In Torah terms, saying something as simple as "I refuse to eat candy" can be considered a legal vow. Therefore, before Rosh Hashanah, we annul any vows, whether made intentionally or not. This is done by standing in front of three adult males and asking to be released from one’s vows. The full text can be found in a Siddur or Rosh Hashanah Machzor.

The Two Witnesses

Study

Learning Something New

The High Holiday Period

The two days of Rosh Hashanah usher in the Ten Days of Repentance (Aseret Yemei Teshuvah), also known as the Days of Awe (Yamim Noraim), which culminate in the major fast day of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The Days of Awe represent the climax of a longer process. Starting at the beginning of the previous month, called Elul, the shofar is traditionally sounded at the conclusion of the morning service. A ram's horn that makes a trumpet-like sound, the shofar is intended as a wake-up call to prepare for the Tishrei holidays. One week before Rosh Hashanah, special petitionary prayers called Selichot are added to the ritual. Rosh Hashanah itself is also known as Yom Hadin or the Day of Judgment, on which God opens the Books of Life and Death, which are then sealed on Yom Kippur.

Torah Portion #54 V’Zot HaBrachah

Saved by GRACE

G = G-d's
R = Riches
A =At
C = Christ's
E = Expense

I learned this on this past Shabat