During the ten-day celebrations, one should not eat, wear leather shoes, bathe, use perfume or indulge in any sexual activities from half an hour before sundown ending the following night. During the holiday, people congregate at the synagogue and recite prayers.
Rosh Hashana kibutz refers to the pilgrimage of the people to the synagogue. This implies the gathering, which is the group of people observing the Jewish New Year celebrations. According to the Hebrew calendar, the holiday will never occur on a Sunday, Wednesday or Friday. During the celebrations, the shofar, which is a ram’s horn, alerts the people on what to do next by blowing it. Blowing the shofar takes place regularly after each activity. The shofar has been a Jewish call to prayer for many generations.
During the first day of celebrations, people recite prayers over flowing streams to symbolize casting away sins to the water. Some also cast bread and pebbles into the water. Honey and apples serve as the main food for the season representing a new sweet year. Other meals include meat from the heads of animals to denote the head of the year and honey pasting on bread. Round Challah bread symbolizes a round year. Other foods include black-eyed beans, spinach, gourds and dates. New fruits apply on the second night as new blessings known as shehecheyanu blessings.
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