This Monday, September 10, Ventura High School will not be in session. According to assistant principal Charles Cornwell, “The reason we take [the day] off on Monday is because we do have a large population of Jewish followers, our students and our teachers… so I think the way the district feels, with there being so many people being gone, [is that] it’s best to use it as a holiday.” The holiday Cornwell refers to is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

But what is Rosh Hashanah? According to jewfaq.org, “the Jewish New Year is a time to begin introspection, looking back at the mistakes of the past year and planning the changes to make in the new year, continuing through the Days of Awe and Yom Kippur.”

Senior Hailey Elson, who goes to Temple Etz Chaim in Thousand Oaks, said, “I’m going to go to temple Sunday night and Monday night. This is the new year, so I’m going to celebrate the new year… For my temple, we walk to this park near our temple, and then [we] take crumbs and throw them into this little river to kind of reset the year.”

Her sister, senior Hannah Elson said, “We always eat apples and honey to celebrate the sweetness of the new year.”

In contrast, freshman Tess Luoma (not pictured), although Jewish, will not be celebrating Rosh Hashanah. “I really just celebrate Hanukkah with my family and lots of food,” Luoma says, although she has a largely Jewish family.

Sophomore Talia Wilcox (not pictured) said, “Traditional foods [for Rosh Hashanah] are apples and honey for a sweet new year, a pomegranate for the 613 commandments in the Torah and symbols of righteousness and fruitfulness. We also have tasclich which is where we go to the beach at sundown and toss bread into the ocean.”