ROSH HASHANAH
A Traditional Observance of the
Civil New Year for Israel
"Apples and Honey, a Treat for Rosh HaShanah"
MODERN OBSERVANCE OF ROSH HASHANAH
Rosh HaShanah often begins with a festive meal at home shared with friends. There is a kiddush recited over the wine, and the challah is baked into round loaves, said to symbolize a crown, referencing G-d as King. In the synagogue, the curtain on the Holy Ark containing the Torah and the cover over the Torah is changed to white, symbolic of a desire for purity. Also, many people wear white for this service, and especially on Yom Kippur.
The morning synagogue service is lengthy. Many of the prayers of Rosh HaShanah service contain metaphors such as the King sitting on the Throne of Judgment on the annual Day of Judgment, inscribing the fate of each individual for the coming year. An aspect of these prayers is that they evoke one key principle of Torah – that every individual’s life and conduct makes a difference on the world and on G-d’s final judgment. Rosh HaShanah greeting is: “L’shana tovah tikatevu,” “May you be inscribed (in G-d’s book of life) for a good year.”
The shofar is sounded during the service,
meant to bring to mind many things. In
ancient times it was often a warning. On
Rosh HaShanah, it recalls the fact that we were given a precious gift – Torah
and covenant relationship on
On the first afternoon of Rosh HaShanah, people gather at a body of flowing water to conduct a tashlich service. Ideally, these would include oceans, streams, rivers, lakes and creeks. Literally, Tashlich means “casting” or “throwing.” This ceremony was begun in the Middle Ages and is symbolic of casting transgressions into a body of water, to be forever rid of sins we are holding onto. Bread crumbs, pebbles, or even pocket dust representative of certain sins are cast into the water. Of course, no actual significance is attached to this: no one believes that the rocks are literal sins or that currents of water can ever remove human transgression. However, as in much of Torah and tradition, symbology can have a powerful and dramatic effect on a worshiper. It can be a very beautiful time as a community or as a family.
While Rosh HaShanah prayers are solemn, and
while repentance is a life-and-death principle in the Scriptures, worshipers are
also filled with joy and hope. The
only reason humans can have the courage to come before a righteous Judge in
quest of forgiveness and renewal is because G-d is ready and very willing to
forgive. He is in the business of
restoration. He longs for our return
to a right relationship with Him. He
created us for that fellowship.
PROPHETIC SIGNIFICANCE OF ROSH HASHANAH
There is a Rabbinic saying that goes, “In the month of Nisan [during Passover], our ancestors were redeemed, and in Tishri [Rosh HaShanah], they will be redeemed in the time to come” (Rosh HaShanah 11a).
The day of G-d’s final judgment on the
earth will come at the end of days; the prophets know this time as the Day of
the Lord. The Day of the Lord
will be a time when He not only pours out His fury upon
Amos 5:18-20 “Woe to you who want the Day of ADONAI! Why do you want it, this Day of ADONAI? It is darkness, not light; as if someone were to run from a lion, just to be met by a bear; as if he entered a house, put his hand on the wall, just to be bitten by a snake. Won't the Day of ADONAI be darkness, not light, completely dark, with no brightness at all?”
Zephaniah 1:14-18 says, “The great Day of ADONAI is near, near and coming very quickly; Hear the sound of the Day of ADONAI! When it's here, even a warrior will cry bitterly. That Day is a Day of fury, a Day of trouble and distress, a Day of waste and desolation, a Day of darkness and gloom, a Day of clouds and thick fog, a Day of the shofar and battle-cry against the fortified cities and against the high towers on the city walls. I will bring such distress on people that they will grope their way like the blind, because they have sinned against ADONAI. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their bowels like dung. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them. On the day of ADONAI's fury, the whole land will be destroyed in the fire of his jealousy. For he will make an end, a horrible end, of all those living in the land."
Ancient tradition holds that the resurrection of the dead will occur on Rosh HaShanah, before the final day of G-d’s wrath. In accordance with this, Jewish gravestones are often seen with a shofar.
Paul made it clear that the “Rapture of the Believers” would not occur before the Last Trumpet, which announces G-d’s final and greatest judgment after the vials of wrath have been poured out. 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 states, “Look, I will tell you a secret - not all of us will die! But we will all be changed! It will take but a moment, the blink of an eye, at the final shofar. For the shofar will sound, and the dead will be raised to live forever, and we too will be changed.”
The first coming of Messiah as a lamb was
fulfilled and remembered in the observance of Passover.
He arose during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and took the firstfruits
of the Resurrection to Heaven on First Fruits.
The Ninth of Av, though not commanded, represents a time in our future
where we, too, will once again see