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Rosh Ha-shana is when God creates the world anew, granting new life to all His creations. It is a mysterious day, rooted in the transcendent, beyond time and place. Therefore, everything about it is hidden and can only be glimpsed here and there. It is the only holiday which is also Rosh Ĥodesh, when the obscured moon is just beginning to reappear. This is why Rosh Ha-shana is referred to as keseh, which the midrash understands to mean “cover.” Even its date is hidden. During the period when the new moon was declared based on testimony (29:1 above), there was no way of knowing in advance when the witnesses would arrive and thus when the holiday would be. Therefore, while according to Torah law Rosh Ha-shana is only one day, in practice it had to be kept for two days because of the doubt about the date. Even when the calendar was established, the Sages established that we continue to observe it for two days. While there are technical reasons for this, there is also a profoundly spiritual reason: Rosh Ha-shana is so exalted that we need two days to absorb all its light.
