Pitt students and others celebrate Jewish New Year at Hillel

Jewish students from Pitt and Carnegie Mellon gathered Monday night to celebrate Rosh Hashana,… Jewish students from Pitt and Carnegie Mellon gathered Monday night to celebrate Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year.

Students observed religious traditions and met with friends and other members of their faith in the Hillel Jewish University Center on Forbes Avenue.

In the lobby of the first floor, students lined up for a buffet that included turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, salads and apples and honey.

They started eating with friends old and newly found on one of the three floors in the building.

Galit Frydman, a sophomore at CMU, said that the apples and honey are a traditional food that signifies a sweet new year.

“You want to be with your friends on the holiday,” Frydman added.

After the buffet ended, the students gathered in separate rooms for orthodox, conservative and reform religious services.

Daniel Marcus, the Hillel’s assistant director, said that the Center tried to meet the needs of the orthodox, conservative and reform denominations of Judaism in one event.

“It is a warm and friendly environment for students to come together and worship in a service that meets their needs,” Marcus said.

Commonly known as the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashana is a time when Jewish people reflect on the past year and resolve to make personal changes for the following year.

Rosh Hashana occurs on the first and second days of Tishri, the seventh month of the Jewish year. According to the Jewish calendar, the year 5766 has just begun.

This year’s holiday began at sunset on Monday and will end at nightfall tonight. The Hillel Jewish University Center held service yesterday night and will do so again tonight.

Next week, there will be an observance of Yom Kippur at Hillel. Yom Kippur is the Jewish day of atonement. It is a solemn holiday in which Jewish people focus on reconciliation and making amends.

Frydman explained that in preparation for Yom Kippur, breadcrumbs are thrown into water to symbolize the cleansing of sins.