Rosh Hashana starts tonight

Last-minute shoppers are depleting the stocks of shofars and plates for apples and honey at Menshenables Judaica in Buffalo Grove as Jews prepare for the New Year.

Sarese Hranicka, the owner of the shop located inside Congregation Beth Am, has been importing items from Israel for Rosh Hashana.

Those who celebrate the holiday dip apples in honey to mark a "sweet new year," she said. The shop has specialized plates made by Israeli artists with various apple and honey themes.

"You put away all the year's strife," Hranicka said of the holiday. "You put your sorrows in the past year."

The shofars, or ram's horns, that are blown into during the Rosh Hoshana celebration, have already sold out, Hranicka said. So have plush toys for children that include an apple and honey pot.

But calendars marking the new Jewish year of 5768 still are in stock.

Shalom Bakery, also in Buffalo Grove, has been busy preparing the challah bread that many use during Rosh Hashana. The bread is round to symbolize the continuous cycle of the year, owner Miguel Benezra said.

His crew has worked non-stop since the weekend to ensure that the 500 or so orders they've received for challah bread and other Rosh Hashana amenities are ready at 5 a.m. today, when the first customers roll through.

"We have 20 to 25 people in here a minute at some point," he said. Police cars are often stationed at the bakery the day before Rosh Hashana to usher customers through the Arlington Heights Road shop.

The whirlwind day ends at 3 p.m., when the bakery closes to celebrate the New Year, Benezra said.

Rosh Hashana, which begins at sundown today and continues to Thursday and Friday, marks the beginning of the High Holy Days. Yom Kippur 10 days later marks the end of them.

Local congregations will have services tonight and Thursday.

"It's a reflective holiday," Hranicka said.