New Fruit and 100 Blasts: On Some Curious Customs of Rosh Hashanah
Why do we hear 100 blasts of the shofar? What’s the story behind the “new fruit” on the second night of Rosh Hashanah—and why is there even a second night in Israel?
In this two-part in-depth halakhah class, we will explore two distinctive customs of Rosh Hashanah that raise important questions about how halakhic practice develops over time and in different places. Beginning with the Talmudic sources, we will trace the evolution of each custom through the Rishonim and Aharonim, examining how practices not explicitly mandated in the Gemara became standard parts of our holiday observance.
The first session will focus on the shofar: why we sound it so many times and how the number 100 emerged as the norm. The second session will delve into the custom of eating a new fruit on the second night of Rosh Hashanah, including an exploration of the two-day Yom Tov practice even in Eretz Yisrael.
