If you walk around Westport on Thursday Sept. 25, you might hear many people saying “l’shana tovah” during conversation, which is a way of wishing others “happy New Year” in Hebrew.

This Thursday is the start of the Jewish New Year, otherwise known as Rosh Hashanah. Rosh Hashanah is a day full of celebration, resolutions, and family, which is similar to the values of American New Years Day. Although Rosh Hashanah is an important Jewish holiday, to many Staples students, it’s just seen as a day off.

On Rosh Hashanah, people practicing the Jewish faith are expected to head to temple to reflect on the past year. Time in temple is spent in prayer and asking God for forgiveness in order to start a New Year off positively. “You go to temple from 9 to 12:30,” Ben Harizman ’17 explained.

Although going to temple is extremely important on the New Year, Rosh Hashanah is also seen as a fun festivity.

“It’s a day of celebration,” Harizman said. “You always end the night with a big dinner with your family.”

Rosh Hashanah is also full of great dinners and desserts. “We all get to eat apples and honey,” Jennie Blumenfeld ’15 said. Eating apples and honey is a Jewish tradition that dates back to ancient times. Apples and honey represent the wishing of a sweet New Year, which is just one of many food traditions on Rosh Hashanah. Many Jewish families also enjoy round challah bread to represent the circle of life and the start of a New Year.

To other students here at Staples, Rosh Hashanah is just another day off from school — not that that’s a bad thing.

“To me, it’s like a nice day off, and I get to just relax,” Ben Casparius ’17 said.

To everybody that is celebrating Rosh Hashanah this Thursday, Happy New Year. To those just enjoying a day off from school, have fun relaxing and get excited for  the pep rally.