Long weekends tend to bring excitement to the classroom when the days off roll around. Many people had shrugged off the curiosity of why this past four-day weekend occurred: the Jewish community celebrated the holiday Rosh Hashanah from sundown on Sept. 25 through sundown on Sept. 27. 

Rosh Hashanah is “the Jewish New Year,” junior Jillian Rosini said. “It’s important to the Jewish community because it [represents the] start of a new year and gives everybody a chance to start fresh.”

Each family celebrates Rosh Hashanah differently, and the publication was able to interview various Jewish students at Pascack Valley to learn about the specific ways certain families observed the holiday.

Senior Camryn Schwartz said, “I woke up to go to services with my family.” The services give the Jewish communities “time to reflect on your year [and] to think to yourself.” 

Schwartz also explained how it’s a Jewish tradition to “eat apples and honey to symbolize the sweet new year.”

When asked about the holiday, another PV senior, Nolan Wasserman, shared his perspective.

“Rosh Hashanah is a time every single year to get back to who I am and reconnect myself with my family and the world around me,” Wasserman said. “It’s nice to take two days and hang out with my cousins [because it] always recenters me.”

To all who celebrate, L’Shana Tova—have a sweet new year!

While Pascack Valley students enjoyed another day off on Oct. 5, the Jewish community celebrated Yom Kippur—the final day of the High Holy Days—from sundown on Oct. 4 to sundown on Oct. 5. 

This holiday is celebrated following “the new year;” it’s a day to “cleanse all of my sins and renew [myself],” PV senior Jayden Rosenthal said.  

Yom Kippur is a Jewish holiday focused on repenting for the sins committed throughout the last year. In order to repent, you fast from sundown on the first night to sundown the next day. 

When asked about her plans before the holiday, Rosenthal said she was going to “eat a bunch of food” with her family on Tuesday night in order to prepare for Wednesday’s fast, which includes refraining from food and drink. 

Rosenthal stated that individuals tend to avoid eating really salty and sugary foods because it “makes you want more water.” 

According to ABC11, “Jewish families and friends gather together to break their fast” to end the day of atonement, the idea of reparation.

When asked about her plans for breaking her fast, PV Junior Vanessa Kramer said she plans to break her fast with “bagels, fruits, and yummy desserts.” 

To Kramer, family is the most important aspect of Yom Kippur.

“[I enjoyed] spending the holiday with my family to reflect on our sins and to do better in the next year,” Kramer said.