Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the most important of all Jewish Holidays and the only holidays that are purely religious, as they are not related to any historical or natural event.

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is celebrated the first and second days of Tishrei. It is a time of family gatherings, special meals and sweet tasting foods such as apples and honey, symbolizing wishes of a good and sweet upcoming year. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is the most solemn day of the Jewish year and is observed on the tenth day of Tishrei. It is a day of fasting, reflection and prayers.

Rosh Hashanah is one of the most beautiful and inspiring days of the year. To understand the essence of Rosh Hashanah, let's start with the most basic of all questions: Why did God create the world in the first place?

Consider the following, based on Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto's 17th century classic, "The Way of God": God created the world in order to give to us. As such, God wants us to have every good in the world. But there is a catch. The greatest gift is to give someone independence. So God created us with "free will" -- the ability to independently choose reality or deny it. If we choose properly, then we merit receiving the greatest pleasure available -- being close with God.

The day of Rosh Hashanah is the birthday of mankind. On the Sixth Day of Creation (the first of Tishrei), Adam and Eve were created. Every year the process repeats itself as God recreates mankind anew. In effect, every year we must re-earn the "right to exist." To do so, God asks us to choose reality. To choose life.

This is the meaning of "The Day of Judgment." If we choose reality, God grants us a year of life. If we choose to be asleep, God grants us a year of death -- i.e. numbness to the meaning of life and truth. This is not because God wants to punish us; God very much wants us to succeed. But we must choose it on our own.

The main reason to choose God on Rosh Hashanah is not for God's sake. It is for us.
It is so we can benefit from the pleasure of God's goodness. It is so we can experience the great things that God's world has to offer. When the day of Rosh Hashanah comes, it is as if God is saying, "Hello! I created the world and I want to give you every pleasure possible. Please do the things that allow Me to give to you."

All God wants to do is to give, and it pains God to not be able to give to us in the way God wants to. God is begging us to shape up so we can become worthy to receive God's abundant blessings. We must choose God to allow God to give to us. Without God, our ability to succeed is impossible.

Rosh Hashanah is the birthday of free will. It is the birthday of ultimate choice. Do you decide to be recreated as a soul? Or do you decide to roam the world asleep all year long?

Written by Marshall Roth, http://aish.com