Rosh Hashanah

American  

[rohsh hah-shaw-nuh, -shah-, huh-, rawsh, rohsh hah-shaw-nuh, rawsh hah-shah-nah] / ˈroʊʃ hɑˈʃɔ nə, -ˈʃɑ-, hə-, ˈrɔʃ, ˈroʊʃ hɑˈʃɔ nə, ˈrɔʃ hɑ ʃɑˈnɑ /

Or Rosh Hashana,

noun

1. a Jewish high holy day that marks the beginning of the Jewish New Year, celebrated on the first and second days of Tishri by Orthodox and Conservative Jews and only on the first day by Reform Jews.

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Rosh Hashanah British  

/ ˈrɒʃ həˈʃɑːnə, ˈrɔʃ haʃaˈna /

noun

1. the festival marking the Jewish New Year, celebrated on the first and second days of Tishri, and marked by penitential prayers and by the blowing of the shofar

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Rosh Hashanah Cultural  

1. The festival of the New Year in Judaism, falling in September or October. Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and the eight days in between are special days of penitence.

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Etymology

Origin of Rosh Hashanah

First recorded in 1840–50, Rosh Hashanah is from Hebrew rōsh hashshānāh literally, “beginning of the year”

Example Sentences

The incident arrives during the Jewish High Holy Days, which started on Monday with Rosh Hashanah and will extend to Yom Kippur on Oct.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 23, 2025

Now, her culinary inspirations are colliding again this week as the new season of her beloved PBS show "Pati's Mexican Table" releases on September 15, the first day of Rosh Hashanah, which Jinich observes.

From Salon • Sep. 14, 2023

Now, she said, the sisters are facing the prospect of being apart during Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year and a holiday the family always commemorated together.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 13, 2023

Capitol Visitor Center days before the observance of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and a 10-day period of introspection leading up to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

From Washington Times • Sep. 13, 2023

On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the last day of that cursed year, the entire camp was agitated and every one of us felt the tension.

From "Night" by Elie Wiesel