KS2 Religious Studies: Celebrating Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year)

Video summary

11-year-old Charlie from Manchester explains the festival of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year that he celebrates every autumn.

He shows us the sweet snack of apples and honey that Jewish people eat at this time.

He learns how to blow a Shofar, an ancient instrument made from a ram's horn, which marks the start of the 10-day festival. It ends in Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year.

From BBC Series My Life, My Religion: Judaism.

Teacher Notes

Ask the class, before they see the clip, which words or phrases we ought to say more often. Among others, there are four which usually come up: ‘Sorry’, ‘thank you’, ‘please’ and ‘I love you’.

Talk about why these words matter, but are often left unsaid. Tell the class that Jewish festivals include saying all four of these things to the Almighty, and to each other as well.

Ask them to watch the clip. Can they see, in the clip, any ways that ‘Sorry’, ‘thank you’, ‘please’ and ‘I love you’ are referred to, either directly or indirectly?

After watching, discuss what they noticed. The festival of Rosh Hashanah is all about saying sorry, but is also time to be thankful, and to express love.

Ask pupils to take large outlines of the four words / phrases, and fill in the letters with more words, or images and pictures that express what they think really matters about these four words.

You might discuss whether it would be good for the class and all our families if we said these words much more often, and even give it a try.

This topic is relevant to KS2 Religious Education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and National 2 Religious Studies in Scotland.