Rosh Hashanah- The Jewish New Year
Rosh Hashanah (literally “head of the year”) is the beginning of the Hebrew civil calendar and the Jewish High Holy Days. It takes place on the first day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei, which falls somewhere between September and October.
The biblical name for the holiday is Yom Teruah meaning, “The Day for Blowing” or “Feast of
Trumpets”. When the summer months begin to cool and the green trees turn to shades of orange, yellow and red, you know this special appointed feast is about to begin.
Biblically, the Feast of Trumpets was commanded by God as a memorial and holy convocation in Leviticus 23:23-27, and it was a time when the people reflected on what God had done before, and a time to set themselves apart for him again. The rabbis have traditionally held the belief that the world was created at this time, which is why Yom Teruah also became known as the Jewish new year. However, Passover is the actual biblical new year.
The passage in Leviticus tells how the feast is to be celebrated: “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the people of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blasts of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work, and you shall present a food offering to the Lord.’”
The month of Elul precedes Rosh Hashanah and begins a forty-day period of repentance called Teshuva (Hebrew meaning to turn) that culminates on Yom Kippur, The Day of Atonement. The shofar is sounded every day calling the people to repent or turn back to God. Traditionally, Jewish people celebrate Rosh Hashanah by attending synagogue services and hearing the shofar blast one hundred times and reflecting on the past year. It’s also customary to wish one another a healthy and happy “Shana Tova” (good year).
At the end of Rosh Hashanah, the ten days of awe begin and are marked by an even deeper introspection and reflection which culminates on Yom Kippur.
While it is a time of soul searching, Rosh Hashanah or Yom Teruah is a joyful holiday marked by sweet foods to point to the sweetness of a new year and a time to thank God for his kindness in bringing us to this season. As believers in Jesus, we can be especially thankful for the gift of salvation and eternal life. However, the importance of the appointed solemn feast remains significant both practically and prophetically. As Jeremiah 17:9-11 says, “The heart is deceitfully wicked. Who can perceive it?” Searching our hearts for attitudes that may be keeping us from bearing new spiritual fruit is an important discipline we are repeatedly admonished to observe in scripture.
Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
In Hebrew thought, the heart is the center of the will. It is the place where our decisions originate. Whatever is in our hearts can impact the choices we make, both big and small. If we want to fully honor God with our choices, we need to examine the state of our hearts.
At Yom Teruah, we can thank God for his ability to make all things new, even our hearts when we yield them to him.
Ezekiel 36:26
“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.”
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Messiah, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
Isaiah 43:19 “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?”
Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown on October 2nd and ends at sundown on October 4th this year.
