By Chava

bat Rachel

A friend lent me ‘Judaism for Dummies,’ and while I like the book, how many of us would buy the book thinking, believing you are a ‘dummy’  which can mean a mannequin, a model used by a ventriloquist, an imitation of something, or an unintelligent person?

“Blow the shofar at the new moon, at the full moon, on the Feast day. For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance for the God of Jacob.”  Psalm 81:3-4

I hope that most of us do not belief any of the above about urselves. Though I don’t quite like the title of Dummy one thing can be said about the book, if you get through it you will definitely know more than when you started.

No one should be dumb when it comes to God’s word. Some of us have just read more of the book and some have utilized it more often. With that being said we will all take a fresh look at Rosh Hashanah. To begin I will take an antonym of dummy or imitation which is real and call the talk ‘Rosh Hashanah for Real People,’ a not so technical, not so esoteric, and hopefully not a dumbed down talk.

First real thing is Rosh Hashanah has several names, some Biblical, some traditional:

Rosh HaShanah (New Year) Nehemiah

Yom Teruah (The Day of the Awakening Blast or The Day of the Awakening Shout)

Feast of Trumpets   - Day of Blowing –  yom teruah Numbers 29

Yom HaDin (Day of Judgment)

Yom HaZikkaron (Day of Remembrance) Lev 23: 24 zikkaron teruah

 

One of the lesser known names attributed to Rosh Hashanah is Yom Hakeseh, the Day of Concealment. Since RH falls on the first day of the month of Tishrei, when the new moon has not yet have appeared, it is thus a "concealed one." This name is from Psalms 81:4-5, two verses that are recited as part of the Rosh Hashanah liturgy:

Sound the shofar at the new moon, at the [keseh] concealed time for our feast day.
For this is a statue for Yisrael, an ordinance of the God of Yaakov.

 

An aside: The Jewish Heritage Online Magazine told of a story of when the shofar was concealed after the Spanish inquisition:

The story is told of a certain Don Fernado Aguilar a conductor of the Royal Orchestra in Barcelona after the Expulsion and forced conversion of remaining Jews to Christianity. Aguilar organized a concert on the eve of Rosh Hashanah and spread the word to the Marrano (forced convert) community. During the concert the shofar was blown as part of the performance. It was heard by all but appreciated only by some.

Thinking more of concealment, I sat in on a class with Yosef Leibowitz several years ago who posed this thought about Rosh HaShanah being at a time when there is little or no light as opposed to Passover and Sukkot when you have the full moon. Leibowitz brought out that perhaps there is more of a concealment of God as the holiday is about us, not God. Think about it, at RH we judge ourselves (have we grown, have we been honest, have we hurt) and then make it right with others and ourselves. We turn inward. Then during YK, 10 days later, as the moon waxes God stands as judge. The focus is now on Him.

Is it real, is it OK to attach the above connections of new moon to concealment. God concealing himself so we go inward into ourselves. I personally like the concept. If I am not left to myself at times, I do not take the time to look inward.

Judaism for Dummies put it this way: “Jewish tradition states that each Jew must yearly experience the release from slavery into freedom, just as the early Hebrews were freed from slavery in Egypt. By the time RH rolls around, six months after Passover, it’s time to start asking, “What have I made of my freedom? Am I still following the path on which I set out?”

The below verses can help us look inwardly: Malachi 2:10, John 13:34-35, Romans 12:10, Romans 14:12-13, Eph 5:21, James 4:11

This is the only holiday to actually fall on a new moon unless one counts Rosh Chodesh as a new moon holiday.

According to a "takanat chachamim," a rabbinical ordinance, Rosh Hashanah can only fall on the second, third or fifth day or the week or on Shabbat.  This is for a halachic ruling that Yom Kippur cannot fall on a Friday, Sunday or Tues. as it would interfere with food prep, the dead being buried and animals being killed for sacrifice along with the beating of willow branches on Roshana haba which would then fall on a Shabbat.

According to Lev 23:24,25 and Numbers 29 is:

     1. Rosh HaShanah takes place in the seventh month on the first of the month. The set calendar fixes this by having Passover never falling on Monday, Wed or Friday.    

     2. You are to have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.

     3. You do no laborious work and present an offering by fire. This is one of the days that requires a cessation from certain types of work in Torah (others are: Sabbath, Unleavened Bread, 1st and last days of Pesach, Shavuot, Yom Kippur, 1st day of Sukkot, day after sukkot, Simchat Torah, 7th year Shabbat for the land to rest along with the 50th or Year of Jubilee)

We read in Nehemiah 8,9 ”..when the seventh month came – the people of Israel being settled in their towns – all the people gathered together into the square before the Water Gate. They told the scribe Ezra to bring the book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had given to Israel. Accordingly, the priest Ezra brought the law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could hear with understanding. This is on the first day of the seventh month (This is where we get the name Rosh Chodesh – “Head of the Month.”)

Nehemiah 9: Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law. Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.” And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.”

 In summary we learn in Nehhemiah:

·         Theme has to do with a person’s relationship with mundane practical life, basic human condition – 7th month relationship to farm. Crops are ready to eat

·         Spiritual contemplation required; you have a horn awakening you to something. This necessitates interruption of our daily activities, cessation of work a break from the summer’s work.

·         Requires us to sanctify our lives through the experience of the holiday theme – mikra kadosh, holy convocation. We do not do it alone.

·         The theme calls for bringing into consciousness the symbolic message of the sounding-the-horn. Why a horn and what is it to remind you of or remind you to do?

 

The Bible refers to two kinds trumpet sounds: teki'ah and teru'ah (Num. 10:5–8). 

Wikipedia gives calls tekiah and teruah respectively  as bass and treble. The Tekiah was known for certain but the teruah was divided into 2, teruah and shevarim:

Tekiah - one long blast with a clear tone.

Shevarim - a "broken," sighing sound of three short calls. Tradition says it is the sound of a broken heart

Teruah - the "alarm," a rapid series of nine or more very short notes. Whereas the shevarim is a broken heart, the teruah is a weeping one.

Tekiah Gedolah: "the great Tekiah," a single unbroken blast, held as long as possible.
And for RH we have the combination of Tekiah, Shevarim, Teruah, ending with a Tekiah Gedolah.

       Are the above sounds important? 1 Corinthians 14:8 states: “For if the trumpet gives an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?” How many of us would know when to say ‘charge’ at a football game if the trumpet did not do its special sound? How many of know to stand in reverence when taps is played.

       The blowing of the trumpets is very significant in Judaism. According to Jewish commentator, Saadiah Gaon, the blowing of the trumpets should remind Israel of:

1. The Creator and His Kingship

2. The duty to return to God

3. The revelation on Mt Sinai

4. The exhortation of the prophets compared to the sound of the shofar

5. The Destruction of the Temple

6. The binding of Isaac for sacrifice

7. Imminent danger

8. Day of Judgment

9. Redemption of Israel

10. The resurrection

 

From Eliyahu Zuta 2, which is in the Tanya:

“The shofar was created for the welfare of Israel. The Torah was given to Israel with the sound of the shofar (Ex 19:19), Israel conquered in the battle of Jericho with the blast of the shofar (Joshua 6:20), Israel will be advised of the advent of the Messiah with the sound of the shofar (Zech 9:14). And the Holy One, blessed be He, will sound the shofar at the time of the ingathering of the exiles of Israel to their place (Is 27:13)

In ancient times you would also hear silver trumpets during temple times since this is ‘the feast of trumpets’ or ‘the day of blowing’.  From the Mishna we get that the horn of a cow may not be used. WHY?  One reason is the reference to the golden calf. 

According to Maimonides, the Scriptural precept to blow the shofar on this day has profound meaning. It tells us, he says:

Awake, ye sleepers from your sleep . . . and ponder over your deeds; remember your Creator and go back to Him in penitence. Be not of those who miss realities in their pursuit of shadows and waste their years in seeking after vain things which cannot profit or deliver. Look well to your souls and consider your acts; forsake each of you his wrong ways and improper thoughts and return to Elohim so that He may have mercy upon you (Hil. Teshuvah 3:4).

Esoterically, the sound of the Shofar is unique. It is a yevava, a cry. What is this cry? Jewish Sages say is the inherent cry of every human that is part of his nature. It is the proclivity of man to cry, a cry of his state of depression. Why is man depressed?  Man is not in control. The life of instinctual desires and pleasures, as proposed by the yetzer hara (evil impulse), only makes sense if man is in control. Instinctual pleasures cannot bring happiness in a world that is not man’s. This world is God’s world and is governed by the will of the Creator.

Today the shofar is not sounded on a Shabbat in many synagogues but I read of a time during the morning Temple service when the shofar was blown. The Roman soldiers mistook it for a sign of revolt. The Roman armies massacred hundreds of Jews and because of that the rabbis ordained that the shofar be blown later in the day.

 

Along with the shofar sounds you will hear the words “L’SHANAH TOVA TIKATEVU “May you be inscribed for a good year!” based on the belief that God judges the world on Rosh Hashanah which comes from a belief that the first of Tishri is the date of creation which is drawn from the Mishnah, or written code of the oral law. The belief is that Adam was created on this day and sinned on this day, therefore judged on this day.

There is also the belief that the judgment is not sealed until Yom Kippur so the next ten days are called the Days of Awe. If one believes ‘once saved always saved’ no need for ‘days of awe’ but if one believes we continue to work out our salvation in fear and trembling, the ‘days of awe’ are truly that. As the moon increases our focus grows from our inward self to God’s mercy, justice and sanctification through the Moshiach Yeshua while allowing Him to mold us into His image to be better able to stand before Him in judgment.

I cannot express enough how important this time from Rosh HaShanah to Yom Kippur is as to looking inward. Once again I quote from Judaism for Dummies “By truly freeing yourself from past guilts and pains, from past grudges against others, you open yourself to truly living and experiencing the incredible joys of life – hence, you become inscribed in the “Book of Life”. If you don’t do this work, you remain encased in old angers and in old patterns, and you aren’t present for the wonders of the moment. You are therefore “written in the Book of Death.”

The Concept of the Book of Life is found in the Apostolic Scriptures as well. In Philippians 4:3, Paul mentions his faithful co-laborers as being written in the book of Life. The book of Revelation, dedicated to the themes of judgment and the coming Messiah, contains several references to the "Book of Life."

·         Revelation 3:5 - "he who overcomes" will not be blotted out.

·         Revelation 13:8 -- All who are not written in the Book of Life belonging to the Lamb will worship the beast.

·         Revelation 17:8 -- All who are not written in the Book of Life belonging to the Lamb will be astonished at the beast.

·         Revelation 20:12 -- Judgment by the Book.

·         Revelation 20:15 -- All who are not found in the book are thrown into the lake of fire.

·         Revelation 21:27 -- Those who are in the Book will enter the New Jerusalem.

 

Some of you may have studied various number patterns in the Bible and I want to first look into the number 10, as we just mentioned 10 days of awe between RH and YK. Daniel and his 3 companions were tested for 10 days (Daniel 1:12). In Rev, the congregation of Smyrna is told she would be tested for 10 days (Revelation 2:10). Nabal died 10 days after learning from his wife Abigail how she spared his life by providing food for David and his men contrary to his refusal to do so (I Samuel 25:38). In the Jerusalem Talmud it says “God waited for Nabal ten days, like the 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur so that he may repent.” Apparently Nabal did not.

Judaism recognized that 10 days of awe might not be enough time to search oneself and so they begin on the first of Elul, the month before Tishrei. Forty is also a very relevant number during this season.

The spies in Exodus spent forty days in Canaan, Ninevah was allowed forty days to repent (Jonah 3), Elijah and Yeshua both fasted for forty days, Yeshua was on earth 40 days after the resurrection. Israel’s Judges judged for forty-year terms. Kings Saul, David and Solomon each reigned for forty years. It rained 40 days and 40 nights while Noah was in the ark, Moses ran from Egypt to Midian at age 40, stayed there 40 years and was on Mt Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments for 40 days. Jews begin the process of introspection on Elul 1. They end it 40 days later on Yom Kippur.

If you go into a synagogue you may be there for their S’lichot service. S’licha means ‘excuse me.’ During the S’lichot service we ask to be excused, to be forgiven. This is also done in homes.

During the RH and YK service we use a special prayer book called a Machzor which means ‘cycle’. One cycles through 3 main themes during additional readings:

1. Kingship, we affirm that God is King over us and the world. Avinu Malkenu, Our father our King is a very appropriate song fo this time.

2. Shofarot which are the prayers and scriptures which symbolize Torah, Zion and its shofar blasts.

3. Zochrenu – the remembrances, of what God has done for all of us, of His covenant with Israel along with asking God to continue to remember us.

The rabbis have also connected the following to RH: 1. binding of Isaac, belief that Joseph went forth from prison on this day, that on this day the bondage of Egypt ceased, Samuel was born or that Hannah’s prayer were heard by God for a son. I had also never thought of Tishrei, being that it is the seventh month of the year, being a Sabbatical month. What Sabbath is to the week, the first of Tishrei is to the year.

Looking back at the Feast of Firstfruits, in the spring we saw the beginning of the harvest and now the fields are ripe and will need to be gathered in so we call it to attention by BLOWING THE SHOFARS.

“In the book of life, blessing, peace and good sustenance, may we be remembered and inscribed before thee, we and all thy people, the house of Israel, for a happy life and peace. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who makes peace.” Let the shofars blow.