Rosh HaShanah greeting – Ask the Rabbi
Q. How should I greet people on Rosh HaShanah?
A. The full Hebrew greeting is L’Shanah Tovah Tikatev (for a woman, Tikatevi). This means, “May you be inscribed for a good year”. A common abbreviation is simply the two words, Shanah Tovah.
Note that the greeting does not speak of a happy year but a good year. Happiness is good, but goodness is more important. If the year is good it is worthwhile, productive, even creative. Every moment is used to the full. No-one talks of killing time or of time dragging. There is no fear of that because filling the year with constructive activity keeps us too busy.
If you have a good year, you know you have earned the gift of a further twelve months from the Divine giver of life.
