ROSH HASHANA: The Feast of Trumpets (Jewish New Year)ROSH HASHANA (Jewish New
Year)
by David Brown, 21 Elul 5756
Introduction
Rosh Hashana, or Jewish New Year, is at once solemn and joyful. It is solemn because of the Awe of judgment. It is joyful because it represents the hope of the future redemption of Israel.
Rosh Hashana marks the beginning of the High Holy Days. It falls on the first day of the seventh month, according to the Hebrew calendar (see Leviticus 23:23). It could occur anywhere from the first to the last week of September on the Western calendar. It ushers in the ten days of repentance leading up to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The name “Rosh Hashana” literally means “Beginning of the Year” You may wonder how this can be, since it is called the first day of the seventh month! The reason is that the Jewish calendar is built on two cycles-the religious calendar
beginning in the Spring, and the civil calendar beginning in the Fall. In the Torah, the months are never named but only numbered, beginning with the month of Nisan in the early Spring, which is the first month according to the religious calendar.
Rosh Hashana Customs
Among the many traditions of Rosh Hashana are:
dipping of bread into honey after kiddush as a symbol of the
hope that the new year will be sweet.
dipping pieces of apple into honey, for the same reason. Also, the apple is said to symbolize the Divine Presence.
use of round loaf of bread instead of the usual braided hallah. Some say the round shape symbolizes a crown.
avoidance of nuts (I don’t mean people who think they saw Elvis on the subway, but actual “nuts.” This is because the numerical value of the Hebrew word for “nut” is the same as the word for “sin.”)
Tashlikh ceremony, in which “sins” are ceremoniously tossed into a river and washed away, as penitential prayers are said.
The Shofar
The most obvious distinguishing feature of Rosh Hashana is the blowing of the shofar, or ram’s horn.
The shofar is associated with the coronation of a King.
The shofar heralds the beginning of the penitential period
The Torah was given amid blasts of a shofar
The prophets compare their message to blasts of shofar
It is a reminder of the Conquering armies that destroyed the temple
It is a reminder of the Substitutionary Sacrifice of the ram for Isaac
It fills one with Awe-Amos 3:6
It is associated with Judgment Day-Zephaniah. 1:14, 16
It heralds the Messianic Age, Isaiah 27:13
It heralds the Resurrection
Significance
Unlike Passover, the Bible does not clearly identify Rosh Hashana with a
historical event, so we must look to tradition to discover its significance.
According to Talmudic tradition, the Ten Days of Awe which begin at Rosh Hashana
are the time in which God determines the fate of each human being. On Rosh
Hashana, the wholly righteous are supposedly inscribed in the Sefer ha-Hayyim,
or Book of Life, while the wholly wicked are inscribed in the Book of Death. The
fate of all others hangs in the balance until Yom Kippur. Consequently, it is a
time for introspection, for taking stock of one’s behavior over the past year and making amends for any wrongdoing.