Rosh Hashanah 2016

Rosh Hashanah, or the Jewish New Year, is one of the most important holidays in the Jewish tradition which marks the beginning of the ten days of judgement ending with Yom Kippur or ‘Day of Atonement’, the holiest day of the year in the Jewish calendar. Rosh Hashanah is celebrated this year on 4 October 2016 by the Philippine Jewish community at the Beit Yaacov Synagogue in Makati City.

The celebration was attended by the Ambassador of Israel to the Philippines, H.E. Effie Ben Matityau, along with Rabbi Eliyahu Azaria of the Jewish Association of the Philippines.

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte attended the Jewish New Year together with Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr., National Security Adviser (NSA) Hermogenes Esperon Jr., Presidential Communications Operations (PCO) Secretary Martin Andanar, and Special Assistant to the President (SAP) Mr. Christopher ‘Bong’ Go.

In the President’s speech, he started with an apology to the Jewish community, and said that he should not have involved the Jewish people during his speech after his official visit to Vietnam. He ended his visit by asking the Jewish community to “please accept my apology… We will always be friends.” ●