What Do Rosh Hashanah and Israel's Prime Minister Have in Common?

Ever wonder what connects the Jewish New Year (ראש השנה) with the country’s Prime Minister (ראש הממשלה)? In Hebrew, it all traces back to one versatile little word: ראש (head).

On a human body, your head sits right at the top. Naturally, speakers started borrowing the word for the summit of anything tall. The Bible is packed with this imagery: ראש ההר (Exodus 34:2), the ראש of the Tower of Babel reaching into the heavens (Genesis 11:4), or Jacob’s ladder whose ראש touched the sky (Genesis 28:12). Even today, you’ll find yourself glancing at the ראש הדף (top of the page).

Look at animals, though, and the anatomy shifts. A creature’s head isn't just up top; it’s out in front — the polar opposite of the tail (זנב). That’s why the classic holiday blessing asks that we be "לראש ולא לזנב" (a head and not a tail). This forward-facing angle spawned a whole batch of idioms: ראש המיטה (head of the bed), ראש השולחן (head of the table), military terms like ראש גשר (bridgehead) and ראש חץ (arrowhead), or everyday perks like being at ראש העדר (front of the herd) and ראש התור (front of the line).

From being the one out in front, it’s only a tiny step to leadership. The person marching at the head becomes the boss. The book of Judges tells us the people appointed Jephthah "לְרֹאשׁ וּלְקָצִין" (head and commander, Judges 11:11). Nehemiah mentions ראשי המדינה (heads of the province, 11:3), and Chronicles talks about ראשי הצבא (heads of the army, 1 Chronicles 12:15). By Talmudic and medieval times, communities had the ראש ישיבה and the ראש הקהל. Fast-forward to modern Israel, and the word runs the show: ראש קבוצה (team leader), ראש עיר (mayor), ראש המטה הכללי / רמטכ"ל (Chief of Staff), and yes — ראש הממשלה.

Then comes time.

Because the head leads the way, ראש doubles as "the beginning" — sharing roots with words like ראשית and ראשון. Ecclesiastes ponders everything God has done "מֵרֹאשׁ וְעַד סוֹף" (from beginning to end, 3:11). That’s why the new month kicks off with ראש חודש, and the turning of the calendar brings ראש השנה.

There’s a quirky historical twist here, too. In Exodus (12:2), the spring month of Nisan is crowned ראש חדשים, the very first month of the year. Yet we celebrate ראש השנה in the autumn, during Tishrei — explicitly labeled in Leviticus and Numbers as "בחודש השביעי" (the seventh month). Biblical Israel likely juggled two concurrent calendars: one kicking off in spring (Nisan) and another in autumn (Tishrei). Over time, the autumn reset won out as the anchor of the Jewish calendar.

Interestingly, European languages like English, French, and Russian have no equivalent idiom for "head of the year" — they simply say "New Year." But Semitic siblings like Arabic and Aramaic use the exact same phrasing. In this part of the world, a new beginning always starts with the head.