It has very an extremely busy time for the members of Hillel at Hamilton for the past few weeks. This is due to The High Holidays. In Judaism, the High Holidays are the most important and valued holidays of the year. The first holiday celebrated is Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. On this holiday, the Jewish people celebrate the end of the old year and the start of the new one. It is traditional to serve apples and honey at the dinner to represent a sweet new year. In addition, there is a special type of Challah that is served. Normally a braided Challah is used, but on Rosh Hashana a circular Challah is served to represent the circularity of a year. A third practice is the blowing of the Shofar. A Shofar is the horn of a Ram that is used as an instrument. The blowing of the Shofar reminds the people of their connection to G-d and the giving of the 10 commandments at Mount Sinai.
The next holiday following Rosh Hashana is Yom Kippur. This holiday is celebrated exactly 10 days after Rosh Hashana. These 10 days in between the two holidays are a time for repentance. G-d opens The Book of Life on Rosh Hashana and closes it at the end of Yom Kippur. Therefore, the Jewish people repent for their sins within these 10 days so that they can be inscribed into the Book of Life. During the ten days, there is mostly thought about repenting, but Yom Kippur is more of a physical task. On the eve of Yom Kippur the Jewish people have a feast since they will fast for the next 24 hours. The fasting serves as another time to reflect upon what sins he or she might have committed in the past year.
The third main holiday of the season is Sukkot. This holiday succeeds Yom Kippur. Sukkot is a 7-day harvest festival in during which agriculture is celebrated. A hut, called a Sukkah, is built every year that hosts this celebration. Building the Sukkah is a fun tradition because it is very festively decorated. Here at Hamilton College, it is decorated with autumn colors and also includes some Clinton Cider Mill apple cider and doughnuts!
In addition to the decorations, there is an important custom that is performed in the Sukkah. This is the shaking of the lulav and the etrog. The lulav is a palm branch and the etrog is a lemon looking fruit from Israel. On Sukkot the Jewish people shake the lulav and the etrog in a certain pattern that encircles the body reminding them that G-d is everywhere.