YOM TERUAH - DAY OF BLOWING
 of the Shofar

A Commanded Holy Day

    Leviticus 23:24  "Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘In the seventh month, the first of the month is to be for you a day of complete rest for remembering, a holy convocation announced with blasts on the shofar.”

    The Feast of Trumpets (Day of Blowing) is often associated with the Jewish civil new year (Rosh HaShanah), whilst Passover is the Biblical new year.  This day is a precursor for Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year.  Rosh HaShanah, which means Head of the Year, was not so designated until the second century A.D.  Since its inception 1,500 years earlier, it was simply known as Zikhron Teruah, the Day of Blowing [of trumpets or shofar].

    Since the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D., traditional observance of the day has embraced changes.  Due to the lack of the Temple , observance became difficult; the emphasis of it grew to be focused on liturgy and prayers in the synagogues, so that the people now in the Diaspora could still remember and keep it to the best of their ability.  The civil new year, Rosh HaShanah, took a kind of precedence and soon overshadowed and intermingled with Yom Teruah.  Today, it is not referred to often as Yom Teruah but as Rosh HaShanah. 

    During the time of Israel ’s occupation of the land, the biblical date was observed for one day.  However, in the exile it was extremely difficult to know precisely which day was the correct one, because the Hebrew calendar is lunar.  Each new month depended on the sighting of the New Moon by two witnesses who announced it at the Temple .  Rosh HaShanah was kept on the first day of the seventh month, so the timing of the sighting was critical.  Jews outside the land could not be notified in time for the holiday to be observed, so it was eventually extended (as were other holidays) for an extra day to accommodate this fact.  The tradition of a two-day observance continues in the modern state of Israel . 

    Observance of Rosh HaShanah begins with a period of serious introspection and self-evaluation leading up to Yom Kippur.  This ten-day period is known as Aseret Y’may T’shuvah, the Ten Days of Repentance.  Besides serious prayer, introspection, etc., we also seek forgiveness of people we have wronged.  Each year this is a special time to ask pardon, receive reconciliation, and renew relationships both with G-d and others. 

    The mood is generally serious as we await Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.  For many Jews, this time of personal evaluation begins a month before in Elul with special prayers added to the daily liturgy to condition and prepare the worshiper for the serious task of repentance. 

    For Judaism, it is interesting to note that the oft-repeated Christian philosophy “Once saved always saved” or “One prayer is all you need” has never existed.  Judaism recognizes human failure as innate, and revolves around cycles based on constant repentance, renewal and regeneration.  The Almighty prescribed these cycles for our benefit, knowing that we will always have times in which we mess up and “miss the mark” of His perfect standards--the Torah.  Judaism is honest about human shortcomings and provides realistic ways of comprehending and overcoming them.  However far we may have strayed from our Father in the previous months, He mercifully and lovingly gives us the chance – every year – to return. 

    Rosh HaShanah is also called Yom HaDin, the Day of Judgment and Yom HaZikaron, the Day of Remembrance.  It is a day of asking HaShem to remember and judge us favorably.  The days between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur are also traditionally a time of special giving of tzedekah (charity) in the hopes of getting more “good deeds” to be remembered on Yom Kippur when the books are opened, and to demonstrate our willingness to return to the good deeds of Torah. 

    The commandments, the feasts, the prayers and repentance never were about gaining salvation or G-d’s approval, but by establishing our covenant with Him and receiving His blessing.  We already have G-d’s favor because of the blood of the Lamb.  He is what makes us righteous.  After all, G-d did not “save” the children of Israel from the bondage of Egypt on their own merit.  He saved them through the blood of the lamb, because He so loved them.  Every year we remember that event, His love, and the covenant He made with our forefathers.

    Torah is about loving HaShem (G-d) and our fellow man.  It is the very definition of Holy love.  Without Torah we cannot love our neighbor as ourselves.  Yeshua’s command to love one another was preceded by the promise that He would write His Torah law on our hearts – so that we could love each other the way He wants us to.  Having the Torah written on our hearts and becoming part of us is a process that we must work on, day by day, season by season, moed by moed (appointed time), year by year.  That is what observance is all about.  Here is the promise made concerning the covenant being put on our hearts:

    Jeremiah 31:32 (33)-33(34) "For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Isra’el after those days," says ADONAI: "I will put my Torah within them and write it on their hearts; I will be their God, and they will be my people.  No longer will any of them teach his fellow community member or his brother, ‘Know ADONAI’; for all will know Me, from the least of them to the greatest; because I will forgive their wickednesses and remember their sins no more."

    Here is one of the affirmations that His law is everlasting.

Jeremiah 32:35 (36) "If these laws leave my presence," says ADONAI, "then the offspring of Isra’el will stop being a nation in my presence forever."

     Israel is still a nation before His presence.  Until she ceases to be (and she never will cease), His Torah lives on.  The call to repentance is now.