Rosh Hashanah is a Jewish feast marking the end of an old year and the beginning of a new year, full of sweet foods and hopes for the future. But for nearly 50 Israeli hostages and their families, as well as numerous Israeli soldiers, this year‘s Rosh Hashanah must feel more like an end rather than a beginning.
Soon after a deadly terror attack by Palestinian terrorists in Jerusalem itself, just after multiple Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers were killed in combat, and only the day before Rosh Hashanah began, the UK, Canada, Australia, and Portugal formally recognized a Palestinian state. It was a reward to Hamas for the October 7 atrocities and all of the torture and massacres of Israeli civilians and soldiers since. It was also spitting on the graves of the victims and thumbing their noses at the hostages and soldiers still in danger.
The state of Israel posted on X, “Best wishes for the Jewish New Year from Israel 🍎🍯 We carry in our hearts 48 hostages still held in torture by Palestinian Hamas in Gaza. We pray for their swift return & a year filled with peace, freedom, and sweetness for all. As we dip apples in honey, may the outgoing year and its hardships end; may a new year with blessings begin. Shana Tova!”
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God promised the land of Israel to the Jewish people as a “perpetual possession” (Genesis 17:8), and the rebirth of Israel in the 20th century marks possibly the first time in history when a long-dispossessed indigenous people reclaimed their country. But Muslims, not content with having 50 nations to call their own, have ever since been trying to wipe out the only Jewish nation on earth, falsely claiming their right to the land, even though a Palestinian state has never existed. Nor is there a Palestinian people; that term was invented and falsely applied to a conglomeration of Arabs by jihadi Yasser Arafat.
We mourn the loss of six IDF soldiers who fell in recent days in combat and in a terrorist attack on the Jordanian border.
— Israel ישראל (@Israel) September 18, 2025
🕯️ Lieutenant Colonel (Res.) Yitzhak Harosh, 68
🕯️ Sergeant Oran Hershko, 20
🕯️ Major Omri Chai Ben Moshe, 26
🕯️ Lieutenant Ron Arieli, 20
🕯️ Lieutenant… pic.twitter.com/vLPIFADlhN
This year, Rosh Hashanah is a reminder to many Israelis that their loved ones are still in horrible danger. The holiday, the “head of the year” or “day of remembrance,” was established in the biblical book of Leviticus and marks the beginning of the new year for the Jews, without the secular trappings that so many Western nations have added to New Year’s now. It is a time for examining one’s faults and making holy resolutions for the future, Jewish Virtual Library explains:
The shofar is a ram’s horn which is blown somewhat like a trumpet. One of the most important observances of this holiday is hearing the sounding of the shofar in the synagogue. A total of 100 notes are sounded each day…No work is permitted on Rosh Hashanah…Another popular observance during this holiday is eating apples dipped in honey, a symbol of Jews’ wish for a sweet new year. They also dip bread in honey…Jews eat round challah bread to symbolize the circle of the life and the cycle of a new year. The challah is also in the shape of a crown because Jews refer to God as royalty.
This year, the sweetness of the holiday is marred for Israelis by the bitterness of genocidal warfare with various terrorist groups backed by powerful Islamic governments, like Iran and Qatar, now along with numerous Western so-called democracies.
God bless all who celebrate Rosh Hashanah, and may He grant victory to the IDF and freedom to the hostages.
