8 Tips for an Amazing Rosh Hashanah at Home
If you are planning to spend Rosh Hashanah in isolation, here are some tips and reminders just for you:
1. Priority #1: Hear the Shofar (only on Sunday)
The shofar is typically sounded as part of the daytime Rosh Hashanah service (except on Shabbat). Even if you cannot attend communal services, you are still obligated to hear 30 blasts of the shofar. We will have four blowings in the community at 2pm on Sunday:
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Margate - main office, 3954 Persimmon Dr.
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Comstock - swim club parking lot, 3955 Bradwater
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Mantua Community Center - parking lot, 9330 Pentland Pl
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The Lapidus Residence (front yard), one block SW of JCC, 4023 Elizabeth Lane
We will also blow the shofar at Tashlich, at OT, at 6:30 pm on Sunday
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Request a House Call: If you are unable to attend any of those, contact Rabbi Deitsch, and see if you can make a private arrangement.
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Toot Your Own Horn: Blowing shofar is not as hard as it may seem at first. If you have a shofar, brush up on the laws of shofar blowing, and be your own shofar-blower this Rosh Hashanah. Extra credit: Let your Jewish neighbors know in advance, so that they can open their windows and hear your shofar blasts as well.
Watch: How to Blow Shofar @ Home
Print: Shofar Blessings and Procedure (PDF)
2. Prepare to Be Your Own Cantor
If you are praying alone, you say the silent Shemona Esrei, and not the Chazzan’s repetition to the Amidah (silent prayer), but you should add a piyut or two (particularly the un'seneh tokef) which is at the end of Musaf. If you do not have a machzor, contact the shul to borrow one!
Even without the benefit of a minyan, you should still read through the Torah reading of the day, and hearing the shofar is an absolute must.
And remember: G‑d is everywhere and hears our sincere prayers wherever we are. We can be sure that if we must stay home, that is exactly where He wants to hear us.
Brush up on the Rosh Hashanah prayers
Print: Machzor Companion for Rosh Hashanah (PDF)
3. Shop, Cook, and Bake Up a Storm
Rosh Hashanah meals are replete with symbolic and sweet delicacies. We eat raisin-studded round challah loaves at all our meals, and dip it into honey for added sweetness. On the first night, right after we break bread, we enjoy apples dipped in honey, pomegranate seeds, the head of a fish (or a ram), and other sweets like carrot tzimmes. On the second night, we make sure to have a “new” fruit, which we have not yet eaten this season, right after Kiddush.
You aren’t in the habit of making small quantities? Great. Pack up the surplus, and drop off your sweet surprise on the doorsteps of fellow quarantiners.
And when you eat your apple in honey, be sure to put an extra little oomph into your prayer that G‑d, “renew for us a good and sweet year.” He knows we can use it!
Get all your Rosh Hashanah recipes here
4. Make Lots of Pre-Holiday Calls
It’s customary to extend wishes for a shanah tovah (a good year) to friends, relatives and acquaintances. If you will not be seeing people during the holiday itself, call them on the phone in the preceding days to express your felicitations and to let them know that you will be thinking of them. Fill your social tank to the fullest, and use that fuel to propel you through to Havdalah.
Explore Various Rosh Hashanah Greetings
5. Print Out Essential Information Before the Holiday Begins
Having the information you need on hand is more important than ever on Shabbat and Jewish holidays, when we do not use technology. So make sure to print the Rosh Hashanah calendar, as well as the times for candle-lighting and havdalah while you can.
6. Light Yom Tov Candles
Before the onset of the holiday on Friday afternoon and once again after night has fallen on Saturday night (from a pre-existing flame), we light festive candles to usher in the holiday. Whether they will be overlooking a grand ballroom, or sitting on a table set for one, our holiday candles bring sacred light and a festive glow to our holiday dinners.
Print Out the Candle-Lighting Blessings Here
7. Hike to Tashlich
On the second day of Rosh Hashanah walk to a body of water and perform Tashlich, a short prayer in which we ask G‑d to “cast our sins into the sea.” Held outside and not requiring a minyan, this is the ultimate social-distancing ritual. If you can do so safely, take a leisurely stroll and enjoy waving to friends and acquaintances at the pond as well. If this cannot work for you, you may do tashlich at a later time, until Hoshanah Rabbah, the last day of Sukkot. See below for information on our community Tashlich.
Get the Text of Tashlich Here
8. Say Lots of Psalms
In Chassidic tradition, every unoccupied minute of Rosh Hashanah is to be used for reading Psalms (Tehillim). With extra down time at home, you can make this the year that you say more Psalms than ever before, possibly even finishing the entire 150-chapter book.
