High Holidays · Rosh Hashanah
When is Rosh Hashanah 2026?
Rosh Hashanah 5787 begins at sunset on Friday, September 11, 2026, and ends at nightfall on Sunday, September 13. It is one festival of two days, the first and second of Tishrei.
The dates, exactly
The Jewish new year, Rosh Hashanah (literally the head of the year), opens the year 5787. It begins at sunset on Friday, September 11, 2026, and ends at nightfall on Sunday, September 13 — the first and second of Tishrei. These are two days kept as one long festival, what the tradition calls יומא אריכתא, one extended day of judgment and coronation before Heaven.
Why the shofar waits this year
In 2026 the first day of Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbat. When that happens, the custom of the Jewish people is not to sound the shofar on the first day; the ram's horn is heard on the second day alone. Nothing is lost — the mitzvah of shofar is simply fulfilled on Sunday. If you come to shul on Friday and hear no blast, this is why: the calendar itself is teaching a note of restraint before the great cry.
What to do
Mark both days as full Yom Tov (festival). Plan for candle-lighting before sunset on Friday, and for a second lighting after nightfall on Saturday from an already-burning flame. Come to hear the shofar on the second day, and let the two days stand together as one threshold into the new year.
Source: The Hebrew calendar, year 5787 (1-2 Tishrei).
Let My Jewish Day (siddur, zmanim, the Hebrew calendar) hold these two days for you — your city's candle times, the shofar on the second morning, and the whole shape of Tishrei as it arrives.
Open My Jewish Day