Each High Holiday season presents unique characteristics, and the 2024 calendar contains a fair number of seldomly-occurring alignments. Let’s take a look at some notable aspects of the 5785 Tishrei calendar that make this year stand out:
1.The Shortest Period of Selichot
First off, the High Holidays begin with the Selichot or penitential prayers. In Ashkenazi tradition, Selichot begins on Saturday night (after Shabbat) and are recited for a minimum of four days before Rosh Hashanah. Thus if Rosh Hashanah falls on Thursday and Friday (as it does this year), we begin reciting Selichot the Shabbat evening immediately prior to Rosh Hashanah and continue for exactly four days. If Rosh Hashanah falls any earlier in the week, we begin Selichot the Saturday night of the previous week.
2. Rosh Hashanah Leads into Shabbat
As the day that G‑d renews the life force that sustains the world, the two days of Rosh Hashanah are infused with an unparalleled level of holiness. The sequence that occurs this year—when Rosh Hashanah falls on Thursday and Friday, followed immediately by Shabbat Shuva—supercharges this.
Generally, there is a gap between the sanctity of Rosh Hashanah and that of Shabbat Shuva (the Shabbat of Return, between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur). This gap is marked by the Havdalah recited at the conclusion of Rosh Hashanah. This year, however, instead of reciting the Havdalah we recite Kiddush, sanctifying the Shabbat that follows and creating one continuous unit of holiness.1
3. Eruv Tavshilin Three Times
In order to prepare for Shabbat which directly follows a festival, an Eruv Tavshilin must be made. Prior to the festival, one takes two food items—generally challah or matzah and a cooked dish such as a piece of fish or unpeeled hard-boiled egg—and makes the eruv with another individual.
There are three instances during this Tishrei season when the festival runs into Shabbat and an Eruv Tavshilin is required. They are:
- The eve of Rosh Hashanah: Elul 29 / Oct 2
- The eve of Sukkot: Tishrei 14 / Oct 16
- Hoshana Rabbah, the eve of Shemini Atzeret: Tishrei 21 / Oct 23
4. Yom Kippur Falls on Shabbat
Scripture refers to Yom Kippur as the “Shabbat of Shabbats.”2 So, understandably, when Shabbat and Yom Kippur coincide it is the ultimate expression of Shabbat. The pleasure of Shabbat is expressed in the most sublime way—not by eating and resting as one does on a regular Shabbat—but by abstaining from physical pleasure and devoting the day completely to the service of G‑d.
While other fasts that fall on a Shabbat are postponed to the next day, Yom Kippur is the exception to this rule. The main practical difference is that the Avinu Malkeinu prayer is omitted throughout the day, recited only at the conclusion of the Neilah prayer. Additionally, although it is Shabbat we do not recite the Kiddush
5. Three Sets of Three days
Finally, as noted above, there are three sets of three days—each consisting of two festival days followed immediately by Shabbat. Three sets of three days of uninterrupted holiness. The Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, pointed out that the three sets of three create a double chazakah. In Jewish law, when something occurs three times it gains a certain weight and becomes “established.” In our case, these three sets of three create a chazakah of the chazakah, adding additional strength to the elevated holiness.3
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