HdG Rabbi: Back-to-School Offers 'Appropriate Symbols' for Rosh Hashanah 2013

Students in Harford County were off Thursday for Rosh Hashanah, a holiday that one rabbi in Havre de Grace said reminds her of the school year's beginning.

"Rosh Hoshanah and Yom Kippur remind me of 'back to school,' with new exciting possibilities, new teachings, new discoveries," Rabbi Gila Ruskin of Temple Adas Shalom wrote in the temple's high holidays newsletter.

The school year began Aug. 26 for students in Harford County.

Rosh Hashanah literally means “head of year” and is commonly known as the Jewish New Year. It is usually celebrated later in September or early October. This year's early start is a good time to harness the back-to-school energy, said the rabbi.

"It makes sense to be starting a new school year at the same time as starting a new Jewish year," Ruskin wrote. "A new, clean notebook, newly sharpened pencils, and a new curriculum, all of these are appropriate symbols for the process of repentance and renewal that Rosh Hashanah brings."

Rosh Hashanah is Sept. 4 to 6 this year. It ends at sundown Friday.

Temple Adas Shalom (8 N. Earlton Rd.) has planned a Rosh Hashanah dinner at 6:15 p.m. Thursday. It is also hosting a service for the second day of Rosh Hashanah at 9:30 a.m. Friday and a Shabbat Torah service at 7:30 p.m. Friday.