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 church services and community gatherings.

Asher Boiskin

10:59 p.m., Oct. 1, 2024

Ben Raab, contributing photographer

As the sun sets this Wednesday, Jewish Yalies will begin celebrating Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and welcome the year 5785.

In addition to social gatherings, the Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale will offer Rosh Hashanah services Oct. 2-4. Reform, Conservative and Orthodox denominations will each hold their own services to ensure students can participate in the holiday in a way that is consistent with their traditions.

“Each minyan has its own gabaiim and they run things,” said Noah Tirschwell ’26, chairman of Slifka Shabbat and Holidays. “The egalitarian (service) is bringing in a rabbi this year to help in addition to his gabiim, who are helping put together the service, asking people to give divrei Torah, coordinating who will read aliyot, and so on.”

Chabad at Yale University will also host Rosh Hashanah services and publicly blow the shofar, a ram's horn used to begin the Jewish New Year, on both days of the holiday on Cross Campus.

Various denominations have hosted and will continue to host events in preparation for the holidays. The Slifka Reform Chavurah hosted caramel apple making this Tuesday, where students both enjoyed sweet treats and had the opportunity to socialize with one another in anticipation of Rosh Hashanah. Last Saturday, Jewish Yalies attended the Selichot service, where they recited prayers and poems to spiritually prepare for the New Year.

Attentive Yalies do not attend classes on Rosh Hashanah.

Isabelle Kim-Sherman '27, who will remain on campus for Rosh Hashanah, plans to attend the service but will travel to New York the following week to celebrate with her family.

For students like Kim-Sherman who remain at Yale, the holidays provide an opportunity to meet with fellow students and professors. Some professors, like Kim-Sherman's Yiddish professor, host meals with students to mark the occasion. Many students enjoy traditional foods such as honey-dipped apples and round challah, symbolizing the hope of a sweet new year.

“It’s really nice to see how many different denominations will be celebrating Rosh Hashanah,” Kim-Sherman said. “When I was growing up, it was just the people in my synagogue and the local community, so to speak, and there wasn’t a lot of variety. So it’s cool now to see how different people celebrate.”

Elijah Wiesel '28, who lives in New York City, will return home to spend the holidays with his family. However, he expressed concerns about Yale's current schedule, which requires students to attend classes during the holidays. Wiesel believes the university should provide Jewish students with an easier way to inform professors about their holiday observances and suggests that the school should urge professors to schedule fewer tests and assignments during the holidays.

Jared Wyetzner '27 expressed similar concerns. He plans to visit her Yiddish professor with Kim-Sherman, but he won't have enough time to celebrate the holiday since a midterm is scheduled for Thursday evening.

“I may go to egalitarian services, but that depends on how much time I have to study,” Wyetzner wrote. “I think professors should be more aware of the holidays (and) that Yale should be more aware of them overall.”

Yale University currently has one policy It is possible for students to request time off from classes due to religious observances.

Wyetzner and Wiesel also have the current Israel-Hamas conflict in mind on Rosh Hashanah.

“This Rosh Hashanah will be different from all previous Rosh Hashanahs in recent decades because of the Oct. 7 attack,” Wiesel said. “When these high holidays are approaching, with the exception of Yom Kippur, one should be happy. For me personally, this has decreased. It’s very difficult for me to be truly happy in the coming weeks.”

Fortunately, Wiesel believes he will enjoy participating in the Rosh Hashanah rituals and returning to New York City to see his family.

Both Wiesel and Wyetzner expressed hope for the new year.

“I hope everyone understands better in the new year,” Wyetzner wrote. “Given what happened with Iran today, I just hope that no matter how the situation escalates, we don’t turn it into a fight between people.”

Iran fired More than 180 ballistic missiles were fired at Israel in an attack on Tuesday, and Israel has vowed to retaliate.

Yom Kippur, the next holiday in the Jewish calendar that focuses on atonement and reflection, takes place next week from the evening of October 11th to 12th.