Jewish Holidays

Newtown Public Schools take off the Jewish Holidays Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur each year. During these days many people stay at home relaxing, but what about the Jewish students? They must complete important tasks to follow their faith, but does the rest of the student body know what Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur stand for?

Both are the high holy holidays, but Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year and means “head of the year.” It is celebrated by people who reflect o

n their year’s mistakes and make resolutions to better themselves. Traditions during this time include doing no work and hearing the shofar, a ram’s horn like object that is blown like a trumpet, in the synagogue. This represents a cry of repentance, as Rosh Hashanah is the anniversary of the creation of man and man’s first sin. It is a reminder to all Jews that God is their king and also recalls the Binding of Isaac in which a ram took the place of Abraham’s son to be sacrificed. Many of these traditions have been forgotten by people who are not Jewish, for reasons that could include other religions overshadowing each other.

“ I do think that since [Christianity] has been so normalized it does put a back seat to other religions,” NHS senior Kimberly Brello said.

Additional observances include eating an apple dipped in honey in hopes for a sweet year. During this time, it is said that God judges all creatures, inscribing the names of the righteous in the “Book of Life” and condemning the wicked to death. The people who are neither have until Yom Kippur to repent, when their fates are sealed.

Yom Kippur is the “Day of Atonement” and one of the most important and holiest holidays of the Jewish year. People have one last chance to change the judgment placed upon them during Rosh Hashanah. Yom Kippur is a complete Sabbath and a 25 hour fast. NHS tries to reduce the amount of work in support of these customs.

“It’s a serious thing. You probably shouldn’t give homework the night before,” Janet Hornton said.

Most of this day is spent in the synagogue with five services that are vastly different from regular ones. They are different in that they require a separate prayer book called the machzor. The service begins with a prayer to annul personal vows and the Jewish confess to their sins by saying the Al Chet eight times. To prepare for Yom Kippur, Jewish people eat a big pre-fast meal and end it with a single blast from the shofar. After the fast is over, they celebrate with an after-fast meal which could make the evening a festival in it’s own right.

With few opportunities in school to explain these religious holidays, many do not know why they have the days off. Some students grasp the idea that their friends are unable to work during these times, but have trouble really understanding if they do not practice the Jewish religion themselves. Although not much is known, students do want to know and learn about the holidays.

“Well, I think if we have school off we should know why,” NHS junior Camden Fowler said.

While Jewish and other religious holidays barely get any recognition, Christmas and Easter are well known Christian dates. Pretty much everyone knows about the Christian holidays and its origins, whereas if asked about Rosh Hashanah they would barely know anything.

“Everyone kinda knows about Christmas and stuff, but [Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur] aren’t as well known, so I feel like they should be known if we’re getting the day off,” Brello said.

A lot of students at Newtown High School do not know what the holidays represent, but they believe that others should have a basic idea of how Jewish people celebrate the day, instead of writing it off as unimportant. Everyone seems to be in agreement that if Newtown takes days off from the week then students should learn more regarding them as well.