{"id":2377,"date":"2021-04-01T06:59:24","date_gmt":"2021-04-01T06:59:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bnaimitzvahacademy.com\/?p=2377"},"modified":"2022-10-14T17:18:49","modified_gmt":"2022-10-14T17:18:49","slug":"rosh-hashanah-greetings-shanah-tovah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bnaimitzvahacademy.com\/rosh-hashanah-greetings-shanah-tovah\/","title":{"rendered":"Learn Rosh Hashanah Greetings in English, Hebrew, and Yiddish"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This is How to Greet Someone Properly on Rosh Hashanah<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are a variety of ways to let someone know that you are thinking of them during Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, which begins on the first day of the month of Tishrei. You can wish them well in three different languages: English, Hebrew, or Yiddish; so let’s go over the various Rosh Hashanah greetings you could use to acknowledge the New Year! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Judaism, the High Holidays refers to the two holidays in the Hebrew month of Tishrei (usually in September or October on the Gregorian calendar), the first being Rosh Hashanah followed by Yom Kippur ten days later. The days in between these two hugely important holidays in Judaism are called the 10 Days of Awe, where Jewish people repent for their sins of the past year and ask for forgiveness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read More: Learn Greetings for Yom Kippur in English, Hebrew, and Yiddish<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rosh<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The words Rosh Hashanah in Hebrew directly translate to Head of the Year in Hebrew. It\u2019s not exactly Happy New Year, but it\u2019s close. Rosh means head in Hebrew and Shanah is year. In Hebrew, when the letter HEY appears as a prefix to a word in Hebrew, it translates to “the,” so in this case, the “ha” at the beginning of Shanah translates to “the year.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’re confused by the fact that sometimes Hashana(h) ends with an “h” and other times it does not and both Shana(h) and Tova(h) sometimes end with an “h” and other times do not, the truth is that anything goes. We are spelling these words phonetically, directly from Hebrew. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also like to explain it another way. The name Hannah ends with a silent “h.” The Hebrew letter HEY is also silent at the end of the word – which is the letter that all three of these words end with – so you get to choose whether or not to include it in the spelling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rosh Hashanah Greetings in English<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Happy New Year!<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The most appropriate way to greet someone in English on Rosh Hashanah would be to say, “Happy New Year!” If you aren’t Jewish, it might feel strange to use that phrase in September or October and not January 1st, but I guarantee that your Jewish friends will feel the love. And just like we continue to say Happy New Year for the first three weeks of January or so, you can Happy New Year for a couple weeks after Rosh Hashanah ends. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Psst: Can you say Happy Rosh Hashanah?<\/strong> <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

It’s best to stick with Happy New Year but I guarantee the person you greet will appreciate the sincere wish regardless. Happy holidays (plural because of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) is a little better but still not quite as good of an option as Happy New Year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"greeting<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Rosh Hashanah Greetings in Hebrew<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Shana Tovah<\/strong> or L’shanah Tovah<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n

\u05dc\u05b0\u05e9\u05b8\u05c1\u05e0\u05b8\u05d4 \u05d8\u05d5\u05b9\u05d1\u05b8\u05d4 or \u05e9\u05b8\u05c1\u05e0\u05b8\u05d4 \u05d8\u05d5\u05b9\u05d1\u05b8\u05d4 <\/p>\n\n\n

TRANSLITERATION BMA STYLE: ShAH-nAH TOH-vAH OR LEH-shAH-nAH TOH-vAH<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You’ll hear both of these phrases quite a lot surrounding the Rosh Hashanah holiday, so I wanted to explain the difference between the two. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shana Tova<\/strong> translates directly to good year and is the best and most succinct way to greet someone in Hebrew on Rosh Hashanah. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

L’shana Tova<\/strong> is the abbreviated version of the greeting below “l\u2019shanah tovah tikateivu v\u2019teichateimu.” I think that a lot of people don’t realize this and believe that adding the “L” to the beginning is more correct than Shana Tovah, but it’s not. L’shana Tova is not wrong, but it also isn’t more correct than simply saying Shana Tovah. Also, when the letter LAMED appears as a prefix to a word in Hebrew – in this case Shana – we translate to either “to” or “for.” In other words, to a good year!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shana Tovah U’metukah<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

(May you have a good and sweet new year!)<\/h3>\n\n\n

\u05e9\u05b8\u05c1\u05e0\u05b8\u05d4 \u05d8\u05d5\u05b9\u05d1\u05b8\u05d4 \u05d5\u05bc\u05de\u05b0\u05ea\u05d5\u05bc\u05e7\u05b8\u05d4<\/p>\n\n\n

TRANSLITERATION BMA STYLE: ShAH-nAH TOH-vAH OO-mEH-tOO-kAH<\/p>\n\n\n\n