Rosh Hashanah at Exeter

By NICK BAKER, MADDIE BARRETT, LOGAN LIU, CAITLIN MURPHY, ISHAAN SINGH, and EDWARD WU

    From Oct. 2 to Oct. 4, Jewish members of the Academy observed Rosh Hashanah. The holiday, which celebrates the world’s creation and marks the start of the Jewish civil calendar, also marks the beginning of the High Holy Days: 10 days of introspection and repentance that culminate on Yom Kippur.

    The phrase “Rosh Hashanah” appeared as early as 200 AD, in the Mishna, the first written collection of Jewish law. Rosh Hashanah is observed as the start of Tishrei, the seventh month of the Jewish Calendar, and is also known as “Yom HaDin,” or the day of judgment.

    Rather than the boisterous celebration that characterizes the modern New Year, Rosh Hashanah is considered to be a time of somber reflection, dedicated to prayers and good deeds. The sounding of the Shofar, an instrumental made from an animal horn, is one of the famous traditional rituals of Rosh Hashanah. After religious services, many communities celebrate the holiday through festive meals, which feature sweet food like apples and honey, as well as a traditional braided bread known as challah.

    At Exeter, Rosh Hashanah is organized by the Exeter Jewish Community (EJC). Rabbi Jennifer Marx-Asch and six coheads coordinate the holiday, working together to hold services and celebrations for Exeter’s Jewish community. Observers were excused from required appointments, and the Thursday schedule was also shifted slightly to accommodate observation of the holiday.

    Upper Ezra Segal explained the celebration. “You go to services and dinner the night before Rosh Hashanah, and also have services in the morning,” he described. “Traditionally, you eat apples and honey.”

    “I went to the bagel lunch in the church basement. It was great to see so many people in the Jewish community observing the holiday as well as all the not religiously Jewish people who came to celebrate with us,” upper Ethan Benenson said.

    Rosh Hashanah is particularly special at Exeter because of the diversity of students’ backgrounds. Members of the Jewish community from Brazil, Canada, and Italy all participated in the holiday. Lower Naomi Moskovich said, “I love Rosh Hashanah as a holiday, but I love it at Exeter because people of many different cultures and backgrounds come together to unite and celebrate a holiday while chanting their own versions of prayers. I find it so fun.”

    For boarders who cannot be with their families, EJC has become a second family. “EJC is my family,” upper Elias Warner said. “We’re planning an entire party, with lots of honey.”

    “My family will be celebrating the holiday back in Colorado, and my sister and I will go to services together,” explained Moskovich.

    For Jewish members of the Academy, Rosh Hashanah represents a time to reflect spiritually on the past and future. “Rosh Hashanah is the head of the new year, and it’s a time where I reflect on the things I’ve done and things I need to work on through the year,” Warner said. “It’s like a spiritual reset.”

    Benenson shared similar sentiments. “To me, Rosh Hashanah is a day that commemorates the start of a new chapter in my spiritual life. That’s why we eat sweet foods like apples and honey on Rosh Hashanah—we want to have a sweet year full of learning and spirituality,” he said.

    “Rosh Hashanah has always been an important holiday to my family because it marks a new year,” Moskovich said. “We always do Tashlikh, attend services, and celebrate together.”