Why wear white on Rosh Hashanah ?
It is a Rosh Hashanah custom to wear white garments. The color white symbolizes purity and renewal and on Rosh Hashanah, we wish to make a fresh start and renew ourselves for the new year. The color white on Rosh Hashanah also symbolizes the ideal of nearness to G-d, and it enhances the religious solemnities of the day.
During the synagogue services, the Rabbi and the Cantor I.E. liturgical singer (and the congregants who follow this custom) wear white kittels (garments/robes). As mentioned, the color white is a symbol of purity and renewal and is reminiscent of the words read on Rosh Hashanah: "Come, now, let us reason together, says G-d. If your sins are like scarlet they will become as white as snow; if they have become red as crimson, they will become white as wool" (Yeshayahu 1:18 or Isaiah 1:18). It is also a Jewish custom to replace the colored Ark Curtain, Torah Mantles, and Reader's Table cover in the synagogue or temple with white ones. The Ark and the scrolls of the Torah are also bedecked in white vestments. The word "kittel" is a German word meaning "frock", but was adopted by the Yiddish language to refer to a cotton or linen white cloak or garment or robe that is worn on certain religious occasions.
Customs of Rosh Hashanah
Shofar
Traditional Greetings
Shehecheyanu or Shechecheyanu Blessing
Foods
Seder
Readings From Scripture
Liturgical Poems - Piyutim
Tashlich - Tashlikh - Tashlik
Wearing White
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Rosh Hashanah
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