Jewish Celebrations Learning Objective: To find out about the - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Jewish Celebrations

Learning Objective: To find out about the festival of Rosh Hashanah.

www.planbee.com

www.planbee.com

How do you normally celebrate New Year’s Eve?

What does your family do? What do your friends do?

www.planbee.com

Rosh Hashanah means ‘head of the year’ and is the Jewish New Year

• festival. Jews believe Rosh Hashanah marks the anniversary of the

creation of Adam and Eve. In other words, during Rosh Hashanah, Jews celebrate Adam and Eve’s birthday!

Do you remember the story

• f Adam and Eve?

What happened?

www.planbee.com

Jews spend a lot of time at the synagogue to worship God during Rosh

• Hashanah. One of the special parts of the service is to listen to the shofar being
• blown. A shofar is a ram’s horn that is blown like a trumpet. It symbolises the

trumpet blast that sounds when a king is crowned. It reminds Jews that God is their king and they are His people.

Did you know that the shofar is blown a hundred times during each day of Rosh Hashanah? What do you think this would sound like?

www.planbee.com

As well as a celebration to remember God, Rosh Hashanah is also a judgement

• day. Jews believe Rosh Hashanah is the day when God balances a person’s good

deeds against their bad ones to determine what kind of year they will have. God marks all this down in the Book of Life - He writes who will live, who will die, who will have a good year and who will have a bad year.

A common greeting during Rosh Hashanah is, “May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.”

www.planbee.com

As well as celebrating at the synagogue, Jews also have celebrations in their

• homes. They have a special meal together and eat lots of sweet foods, such as

apples dipped in honey, as a symbol of the sweet new year they hope lies ahead of

• them. Pomegranates are also eaten. It is said that there are 613 seeds in a

pomegranate, representing the 613 laws written in the Torah. A round challah loaf is also eaten. This symbolises the cycle of life as well as God’s

• crown. Rosh Hashanah is a time when Jews particularly remember God as a king.

www.planbee.com

Rosh Hashanah also marks the start of the ten Days of Awe. During these ten days, Jews think about all the things they have done wrong throughout the last

• year. They think about who they might have hurt or upset, and take this time to

ask for their forgiveness. The Days of Awe lead up to Yom Kippur which is the day God seals the Book of Life for the year. The Days of Awe give Jews the chance to make up for what they have done wrong so they can start the new year afresh.

Can you think of any mistakes or things you have done wrong in the past year? Who would you need to ask to forgive you?