When the sun sets Wednesday evening, the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashana — the Jewish new year — will begin.

Randy Davis said Rosh Hashana, which translates to “a time of change,” is a time of introspection and prayer.

“You want to be a better person and a better Jew,” she said.

Davis is a member of Rodeph Sholom Congregation in Rome and teaches the principles of Rosh Hashana to congregation children in the weeks leading up to the holiday.

Rosh Hashana is the start of the civil year in Judaism. The holiday lasts two days and is the beginning of the High Holidays. It leads into Yamim Noraim, the “Days of Awe,” a 10-day period leading up to Yom Kippur or “the day of Atonement.” This year Yom Kippur will take place Sept. 18.

“It’s the time when the book of life is opened up, and God decides who lives and who dies. You ask yourself if you have done enough, if you have been good enough. It is a time when you seek forgiveness from those you have hurt and make things right,” Davis said.

But it is also a time of celebration, Davis said. New celebratory covers are put on the Torahs, and the temple is cleaned in preparation. The holiday is also called the Feast of Trumpets, and a ram’s horn called a Shofar is blown in celebration. Davis said apples and honey are also consumed, a symbol that this year will be a sweet year.

The Rodeph Sholom Sisterhood women’s group will host a luncheon during the celebration with traditional Jewish foods that often aren’t available in Rome, such as gefilte fish, lox and round challah bread to symbolize the cycle of the year.

Davis said Rosh Hashana, much like a birthday or a traditional new year, is a time to reflect on the past and look toward the future.

“Instead of making secular resolutions like losing weight, you make spiritual resolutions,” she said. She calls it a time to be Tikkun Olam, which means “to make the world a better place.”

“It’s not just for Jews. It makes you want to do good things like volunteer to make the world better,” she said.

Davis said she is passing these traditions on to her daughter Haley, 9.

Rodeph Sholom Congregation will have services to commemorate the holiday today and Wednesday. “It’s a time to appreciate each other in the congregation,” Davis said. “It’s a time to appreciate the community.”