Holiday guide
Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish new year and the start of the ten Days of Awe that end on Yom Kippur. It is a judgment day as much as a celebration: the shofar is blown, the liturgy is long, and the meals are deliberately sweet.
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Israel or the diaspora?
Rosh Hashanah is two days everywhere, including Israel. It is the one major festival with no one-day-versus-two-day split.
On the ground
What happens in Israel
The country closes. Shops, buses and most restaurants shut from the afternoon before, and the roads empty out. Beaches and national parks are the exception and get very busy.
Practice
How it is observed
- Hearing the shofar (ram's horn) blown in synagogue, on both mornings unless the first day falls on Shabbat, when it is sounded only on the second
- Apples dipped in honey and round challah for a sweet new year
- Tashlich: symbolically casting away sins at a body of water
- Festive meals with simanim, foods eaten as good omens
"Shanah tovah" (a good year) or "Shanah tovah u'metukah" (a good and sweet year)
Apples and honey, round challah with raisins, pomegranates, honey cake, and a new fruit on the second night.
Year by year
Rosh Hashanah dates, year by year
Every date from 2024 to 2030, computed from the Hebrew calendar. Each year has its own page with candle lighting times.
The rest of the calendar
Other Jewish holidays
8 of the 14 other holidays on the Hebrew calendar, nearest date first. Every card opens a guide with dates from 2024 to 2030.
September 21, 2026
Yom Kippur
The Day of Atonement, the holiest day of the Jewish year. A 25-hour fast from sundown to nightfall.
September 26, 2026
Sukkot
The festival of booths. A week of meals in the sukkah with the four species. The first two days are yom tov in the diaspora.
October 3, 2026
Shemini Atzeret & Simchat Torah
The closing festival of Sukkot, followed by Simchat Torah: finishing and restarting the Torah reading with dancing. One combined day in Israel, two in the diaspora.
December 5, 2026
Hanukkah
The festival of lights: eight nights of candle lighting marking the rededication of the Temple. Latkes, sufganiyot and dreidels.
January 23, 2027
Tu BiShvat
The new year of the trees. Tree planting in Israel and eating the fruits of the land.
March 23, 2027
Purim
Celebrates the rescue of the Jews of Persia as told in the Book of Esther. Megillah readings, costumes, mishloach manot and festive meals.
April 22, 2027
Passover (Pesach)
The festival of freedom, marking the Exodus from Egypt. Seder nights, matzah, and no chametz for eight days (seven in Israel).
May 4, 2027
Yom HaShoah
Holocaust Remembrance Day. In Israel a two-minute siren brings the country to a standstill.
Frequently asked questions
When is Rosh Hashanah?+
The next Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown on September 11, 2026 and ends at nightfall on September 13, 2026. Because the Hebrew calendar is lunisolar, the Gregorian date shifts each year while the season stays fixed.
What is Rosh Hashanah?+
Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish new year and the start of the ten Days of Awe that end on Yom Kippur. It is a judgment day as much as a celebration: the shofar is blown, the liturgy is long, and the meals are deliberately sweet.
Does Israel observe Rosh Hashanah differently?+
Rosh Hashanah is two days everywhere, including Israel. It is the one major festival with no one-day-versus-two-day split.
What is Rosh Hashanah like in Israel?+
The country closes. Shops, buses and most restaurants shut from the afternoon before, and the roads empty out. Beaches and national parks are the exception and get very busy.