Rosh Hashanah: What It Is and How to Celebrate It at Home

Shalom, beloved. As followers of Yeshua, we are grafted into a story that started long before the Gospels. The feasts of the Lord — the moedim, His appointed times — were given not only to Israel but as a shadow of things to come, with the substance belonging to Messiah (Colossians 2:16-17). One of those feasts is Rosh Hashanah, and we want to invite every brother and sister in our community to keep it together, in your own home, this year.

What is Rosh Hashanah? The Hebrew name means “Head of the Year.” In the Scriptures it is called Yom Teruah — the Feast of Trumpets, or the Day of Blowing — and the Lord Himself commanded it: “In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work, and you shall present a food offering to the Lord” (Leviticus 23:23-25; see also Numbers 29:1). It falls on the first day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei. In 2026, Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown on Friday, September 11 and continues through nightfall on Sunday, September 13.

Why it matters for followers of Yeshua. The shofar — the ram’s horn — is the sound of this feast, and Scripture ties the trumpet to some of the most important moments in our walk. Sinai trembled at the trumpet (Exodus 19:16-19). The walls of Jericho fell at the trumpet (Joshua 6). And the New Covenant writers point us forward: “The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God” (1 Thessalonians 4:16). “The trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:52). When we keep Yom Teruah, we are listening — rehearsing for the day the last trumpet sounds and our King returns.

Rosh Hashanah also opens the Ten Days of Awe, the ten days from Yom Teruah through Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). It is a season of self-examination — a time to ask, “Where have I drifted? Where do I need to return to my Lord?” The shofar wakes us up. The next ten days are for repentance and turning. That is the heart of the feast.

How to celebrate Rosh Hashanah at home. You do not need a synagogue, a rabbi, or fancy supplies to keep this feast. Here is a simple way every household in our community can observe it:

1. Light candles and welcome the feast. As the sun sets on Erev Rosh Hashanah, gather the family. Light two candles (the traditional pattern) and pray, thanking the Lord for the new year, for His mercies that are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23), and for the gift of Yeshua, the Light of the world (John 8:12).

2. Hear the shofar. If you have a shofar, sound it — the traditional pattern is Tekiah (one long blast), Shevarim (three short blasts), Teruah (nine staccato blasts), and Tekiah Gedolah (one very long blast). If you do not have a shofar, play a recording — many are freely available. Let the children hear it. Read aloud Numbers 29:1 and Psalm 81:3 before the blast.

3. Share a festive meal with symbolic foods. The table is a teaching tool. Common foods, each with a meaning to share with your family:

  • Apples dipped in honey — a prayer for a sweet new year.
  • Round challah (or any round bread) — the cycle of the year and the crown of our King.
  • Pomegranates — tradition says the seeds remind us of God’s commandments and the fruitfulness He calls us to (John 15:5).
  • Fish — for fruitfulness and multiplication.
  • Dates, carrots, or other sweet foods — a sweet beginning.

4. Read Scripture together. Some passages to read aloud at the table: Genesis 22 (the binding of Isaac — the ram caught in the thicket points us to the Lamb of God), Leviticus 23:23-25 (the command itself), 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, 1 Corinthians 15:51-58, and Revelation 11:15. End with prayer.

5. Tashlikh — cast away. If you can, on the afternoon of the first day, take the family to a stream, lake, or any moving water. Bring a small piece of bread for each person. As you cast the crumbs into the water, confess any sin the Lord brings to mind and remember Micah 7:19: “He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” Yeshua is the One who carries our sin away (1 John 1:9).

6. Begin the Ten Days of Awe in earnest. Set aside extra time each day between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur for prayer, Scripture, and asking the Lord to search your heart (Psalm 139:23-24). Make right with anyone you have wronged. The shofar is not just a sound — it is a call to turn.

A common greeting on Rosh Hashanah is “L’Shanah Tovah” — “for a good year” — or the longer “L’Shanah Tovah Tikatevu” — “may you be inscribed for a good year.” Share it with one another, and with neighbors who know the feast.

We’d love to walk this with you. If you have never kept Rosh Hashanah before and you would like guidance — what to read, what to say, how to teach your children — please reach out. We can pray with you, recommend resources, and even share recordings of the shofar to use in your home. Whether you are new to the appointed times or have kept them for years, we want to celebrate alongside you.

  • Phone: (520) 302-4034
  • Email: Info@thewayofyeshuaministries.org

May the sound of the trumpet stir us all to readiness. May the new year be sweet. And may we — together — lift our eyes for the return of our King. L’Shanah Tovah!