easy dinner recipes for two: How To Celebrate Rosh Hashanah

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Rosh Hashanah, known as the Jewish New Year, begins the Jewish high holidays, a time of reflection, charity, and new beginnings in the Hebrew calendar. Here's how to celebrate it.

To complete this how-to, you will need:

Dinner
2 candles and candlesticks
Wine
Challah bread
Sliced apples
Honey
Sliced apples
Honey
Body of water

Step 1: Start the celebration

Clear your schedule. Rosh Hashanah falls on a different day each year, usually in September. The 2-day celebration starts at sundown the evening before the first full day.

Step 2: Have a family dinner

Start the holiday with a family dinner on the first night. The meal may include gefilte fish, matzo ball soup, roast chicken or brisket, carrot _tzimmes_, and pomegranate. Greet everyone by saying _L'Shanah Tovah_! which in Hebrew means "For a good year!"

Step 3: Recite blessings

Light the candles and say the ritual blessings over them. Recite the kiddush, or blessing over the wine, and the blessing over the challah bread. Pass the challah around for everyone to break off a piece, and dip the bread and slices of apples in honey in the hope that the new year will be sweet.

The circular shape of the challah bread represents the cycle of the year and of life.

Step 4: Go to temple

Go to temple. Most synagogues have an all-day program that includes songs, prayers, readings, sermons, and the story of the binding of Isaac from the Torah.

One of the holiday's _mitzvot_, or commandments, is to hear the "ram's horn or shofar":http://www.howcast.com/videos/237556-How-To-Blow-a-Shofar, which serves as a call to examine your behavior.

Step 5: Cast off your sins

After services, follow the rabbi to a flowing body of water for a ritual known as _Tashlich_. Some _Tashlich_ ceremonies include tossing bits of bread into the water to symbolize letting go of your sins.

Step 6: Enjoy your year

Reflect on the past year and the year to come. Take time to remember the less fortunate, and include charitable giving in your Rosh Hashanah celebrations.

In the Bible, Rosh Hashanah is referred to as _Yom Ha-Zikkaron_, day of remembrance, or _Yom Teruah_, day of shofar blowing.

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