Jewish Yalies prepare for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year
Jewish Yalies reflect on the New Year and plan to celebrate Rosh Hashanah with a mix of religious services and community gatherings.
Ben Raab, Contributing Photographer
As the sun sets this Wednesday, Jewish Yalies will begin observing Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, welcoming the year 5785.
In addition to social gatherings, the Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale will offer religious services for Rosh Hashanah from Oct. 2 through Oct. 4. Reform, Conservative and Orthodox denominations will each hold their own services, ensuring that students can participate in the holiday in a way that aligns with their traditions.
“Every minyan has their own Gabaiim and they run the show,” Noah Tirschwell ’26, the Slifka Shabbat and Holidays Chair, said. “The egalitarian [service] is bringing in a Rabbi this year to help, in addition to their Gabiim who help put together the service, ask people to give Divrei Torah, and coordinate who will read Aliyot, and so forth.”
Chabad at Yale University will also host Rosh Hashanah services and will publicly blow the shofar, a ram’s horn used to mark the start of the Jewish new year, on Cross Campus on both days of the holiday.
Different denominations have been hosting and will continue to host events to prepare for the holiday. The Slifka Reform Chavurah hosted caramel apple-making this Tuesday, where students enjoyed both sweet treats and the opportunity to connect with one another in anticipation of Rosh Hashanah. This past Saturday, Jewish Yalies attended Selichot services, where they recited prayers and poems to spiritually prepare for the new year.
Observant Yalies will not attend classes during Rosh Hashanah.
Isabelle Kim-Sherman ’27, who is staying on campus for Rosh Hashanah, plans to attend services but will travel home to New York the following week to celebrate with her family.
For students like Kim-Sherman staying at Yale, the holiday offers an opportunity to gather with both peers and professors. Some professors, like Kim-Sherman’s Yiddish professor, are hosting meals with students to mark the occasion. Many students will enjoy traditional foods like apples dipped in honey and round challah, which symbolizes the hope for a sweet new year.
“It’s really nice to be able to see how so many different denominations are going to observe Rosh Hashanah,” Kim-Sherman said. “Growing up, it was kind of just the people in my synagogue and the local community, and there was not a lot of variation. So it is cool to now see all the different ways that people are celebrating.”
Elijah Wiesel ’28, who lives in New York City, will return home to spend the holiday with his family. However, he expressed concerns about Yale’s current schedule, which requires students to attend classes during the holiday. Wiesel believes that the University should provide Jewish students with an easier way to notify professors about their holiday observance and suggests that the school should urge professors to schedule fewer tests and assignments during the holiday.
Jared Wyetzner ’27 shared similar concerns. He plans to join Kim-Sherman in visiting their Yiddish professor but will not have enough time to celebrate the holiday due to a midterm scheduled for Thursday night.
“I might be going to egalitarian services, but it depends on how much time I have with studying,” Wyetzner wrote. “I feel like professors should be more aware of the holidays [and that] Yale should be more aware of this as a whole.”
Yale University currently has a policy allowing students to request time off from class for religious observances.
Wyetzner and Wiesel also have the current Israel-Hamas conflict on their minds this Rosh Hashanah.
“This Rosh Hashanah is going to be different from any previous Rosh Hashanah in the past few decades because of the October 7th attack,” Wiesel said. “With these high holidays coming up, with the exception of Yom Kippur, you’re supposed to be happy. Personally, that’s been diminished for me. I find it very hard to actually feel happy for the coming weeks.”
Fortunately, Wiesel believes that engaging in the Rosh Hashanah rituals and returning home to New York City to see his family will provide him some joy.
Both Wiesel and Wyetzner expressed hope for the new year.
“I wish everyone to be better at understanding in the new year,” Wyetzner wrote. “With what happened today with Iran, I just hope that however the situation escalates, we don’t make this into a battle between people.”
Iran fired more than 180 ballistic missiles at Israel in an attack on Tuesday, and Israel has vowed to retaliate.
Yom Kippur, the next holiday in the Jewish calendar, which focuses on atonement and reflection, takes place next week, from the evening of Oct.11 through Oct. 12.