On Rosh Hashanah, people engage in a variety of practices to mark the Jewish New Year, focusing on prayer, reflection, and festive celebration.

Religious Customs

• Many spend much of Rosh Hashanah in synagogue, participating in extended prayer services. Central to the services is the blowing of the shofar (a ram's horn) multiple times, which serves as a spiritual wake-up call.
• The Torah is read with specific readings connected to themes of birth, devotion, and divine love.
• The Musaf prayer contains special sections emphasizing God's kingship and remembrance, accompanied by more shofar blasts.
• Tashlich is a symbolic ritual performed by many where they cast off sins by throwing pieces of bread or stones into natural flowing water.

Festive Meals and Symbolic Foods

• Meals are festive, beginning with kiddush over wine or grape juice.
• Special round challah bread (symbolizing the cycle of the year) is dipped in honey as a prayer for sweetness in the new year.
• Apples dipped in honey are eaten, along with other symbolic foods like pomegranates (representing commandments and blessings), fish heads (symbolizing being a "head and not a tail"), and sometimes sweet carrot dishes called tzimmes.
• On the second night, people often eat a "new fruit" they haven't tasted in the season.
• Some avoid nuts and sharp or bitter foods to symbolize avoiding sin and bitterness in the year ahead.

Additional Traditions

• Candles are lit each evening by women and girls.
• Preparations before the holiday include grooming, wearing special clothes, and spiritual readiness.
• The holiday is also a time for reflection, repentance (teshuva), and praying for a good and sweet new year.
• Traditional greetings include wishing others to be "inscribed and sealed in the Book of Life" or simply "Shana Tova" (a good year).

These combined customs create a rich, meaningful celebration focused on renewal, hope, and community.