Mark Rouleau (30 Sep 2008)
"Rosh Hashanah Begins as Sundown"
The Feast of Trumpets (Christian
holiday) begins at sundown (with economic meltdown on the horizon? The
House of Representatives voted down the $700 billion financial bailout
package Monday afternoon, sending stocks into a freefall. House Votes
Down Rescue Plan)
1Co 15:52
In a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound,
and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Rosh Hashanah in a Nutshell
The
festival of Rosh Hashanah --the name means "Head of the Year" --is
observed for two days beginning on Tishrei 1, the first day of the
Jewish year. It is the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve, the
first man and woman, and their first actions toward the realization of
mankind's role in G-d's world.
Rosh Hashanah thus emphasizes the
special relationship between G-d and humanity: our dependence upon G-d
as our creator and sustainer, and G-d's dependence upon us as the ones
who make His presence known and felt in His world. Each year on Rosh
Hashanah, "all inhabitants of the world pass before G-d like a flock of
sheep," and it is decreed in the heavenly court, "who shall live, and
who shall die... who shall be impoverished, and who shall be enriched;
who shall fall and who shall rise." But this is also the day we
proclaim G-d King of the Universe. The Kabbalists teach that the
continued existence of the universe is dependant upon the renewal of
the divine desire for a world when we accept G-d's kingship each year
on Rosh Hashanah.
The central observance of Rosh Hashanah is the
sounding of the shofar, the ram's horn, which represents the trumpet
blast of a people's coronation of their king. The cry of the shofar is
also a call to repentance; for Rosh Hashanah is also the anniversary of
man's first sin and his repentance thereof, and serves as the first of
the "Ten Days of Repentance" which culminate in Yom Kippur, the Day of
Atonement. Another significance of the shofar is to recall the Binding
of Isaac which also occurred on Rosh Hashanah, in which a ram took
Isaac's place as an offering to G-d; we evoke Abraham's readiness to
sacrifice his son and plead that the merit of his deed should stand by
us as we pray for a year of life, health and prosperity. Altogether,
the shofar is sounded 100 times in the course of the Rosh Hashanah
service.
Additional Rosh Hashanah observances include: a) Eating
a piece of apple dipped in honey to symbolize our desire for a sweet
year, and other special foods symbolic of the new year's blessings. b)
Blessing one another with the words Leshanah tovah tikateiv
veteichateim, "May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year." c)
Tashlich, a special prayer said near a body of water (an ocean, river,
pond, etc.) in evocation of the verse, "And You shall cast their sins
into the depths of the sea." And as with every major Jewish holiday
after candlelighting and prayers we recite Kiddush and make a blessing
on the Challah.