New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday greeted the Jewish community across the world, his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, and the people of Israel on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.
In a post on microblogging site X, he said, “Shana Tova! Warmest Rosh Hashanah greetings to my friend Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the people of Israel, and the Jewish community worldwide. Wishing everyone a new year filled with peace, hope, and good health.”
Rosh Hashanah, which literally translates to “head of the year,” marks the beginning of the Jewish High Holy Days and is observed on the first and second days of the Hebrew month of Tishrei, falling in September or October.
The festival is celebrated with prayers, reflection, and symbolic foods such as apples dipped in honey, representing the wish for a sweet new year.
The traditional greeting “Shana Tova U’Metuka” further expands the wish to mean “a good and sweet year.”
For the Jewish community, Rosh Hashanah is both a time of celebration and solemn introspection, leading into Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, considered the holiest day in Judaism.
By extending greetings, PM Modi reaffirmed India’s strong diplomatic ties with Israel and its outreach to the global Jewish diaspora during the festival.
