A Holy Convocation, a remembrance by blowing of trumpets - Yom Hazikaron Teruah - Leviticus 23:24:

"Speak to the people of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, you shall have a Shabbat, a memorial of blowing of horns, a holy gathering. You shall do no labor in it; but you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.

Rosh Hashanah - literally ”Head of the Year” - is the Jewish New Year. It is called in the Bible the Day of the blowing of the Trumpets, the Day of Judgment, and the Day of Memorial. Rosh Hashanah occurs on the first day of Tishrei - Rosh Chodesh Tishrei which is the first month of the Jewish secular year, and the seventh month of the Biblical year. It is celebrated as a two day holiday in the Diaspora, but only one day in Israel. It is customary on Rosh Hashanah to eat foods symbolizing sweetness, blessings and abundance. The regular Hallah is replaced with a round one symbolizing the passing of the year, sweet apples and Hallah are eaten dipped in honey symbolyzing the desire for a sweet new year. Also, the head of a fish is eaten symbolizing the beginning of a new and good year, at which the parents bless their children with the words, “May you be the head and not the tail” from Devarim 28:13.

The traditional greeting for Rosh Hashanah is:

“L’Shanah tovah tikotevu”

"May you be inscribed for a good year!"

The day is not one of merrymaking, but of quiet self-inventory, repentance, and resolving to be guided by the teachings of the Torah in the year to come. The name “Rosh Hashanah” is not mentioned in the Torah.

YOM TERUAH — A DAY OF BLOWING THE SHOFAR. This name recalls the sound of the Shofar of God at Mount Sinai, the day when God would drive out the powers of darkness by giving us His Torah. The Shofar was also used as a rallying call to all Israel to battle for the Kingdom of God. The Shofar is to remind the worshipers of God's providence, of the ram that was substituted for the sacrifice of Isaac, thus to remind us about the substitutionary sacrifice of Yeshua at His first coming. And the Shofar is to presage the second coming of Moshiach Yeshua, whose arrival will be heralded by the “Great Shofar.” There are four different sounds associated with the blowing of the Shofar:

1. TEKIAH - a pure, unbroken sound that calls man to search his heart, forsake his wrong ways, and seek forgiveness through repentance.

2. SHEVORIM - a broken, staccato sound, consisting of three short blasts. It typifies the sorrow that comes to man when he realizes his misconduct and desires to change his ways.

3. TERUAH - a succession of nine tremulous sounds of alarm calling upon man to stand by the banner of God.

4. TEKIAH GADOLAH - the prolonged, unbroken sound typifying a final appeal to sincere repentance and atonement.

Combinations of one hundred of these sounds are arranged in three sets of blasts throughout the Rosh Hashanah service

YOM HA-ZEKARON — A DAY OF MEMORIAL. It may recall Israel's forebears as God's people or it may refer to a public commemoration of the dead. The power of memory is to recall one's deeds for personal introspection.

YOM HA-DIN — A DAY OF JUDGMENT. This day the world was called into existence; this day He causes all mankind to stand in judgment. Tradition tells that the Book of Life is opened on Rosh Hashanah and sealed on Yom Kippur. In this book the fate of the righteous, the wicked, and those uncertain are recorded. The first are inscribed for life, the second are blotted out from the book of the living, and the third are given respite to repent.

Rosh Hashanah commemorates the birth of Adam, Isaac, Samuel, the Binding of Isaac, and the birth of the world.

On the afternoon of Rosh Hashanah it is customary for pious Jews to go to a body of water and symbolically cast away their sins with prayer, called Tashlich. “And You will cast all their sins into the depth of the sea” (Micah 7:18). Because bread is symbolic of sin, the participants in this ceremony empty their pockets of bread crumbs and throws them into the water.