The Jewish New Year and Us by Ben Fronczek

http://granvillenychurchofchrist.org/?p=1895

The Jewish New Year and Us

The Jewish New Year Rosh Hashanah and Christianity

This week as I thought what to bring to you as a New Year sermon I wondered how Jesus and the Jews celebrated the New Year, or even if they did. What I learned I thought was interesting and I believe it is worthwhile to share with you.

People of the Jewish faith celebrate their new year much differently than most everyone else. However, one important similarity between the Jewish New Year and the American one: Many Americans use the New Year as a time to plan a better life, making “resolutions.” Likewise, the Jewish New Year begins with a time of reflection, looking back at the mistakes of the past year and planning changes to make in the new year.

Faithful Jews celebrate their new year on a different day than we do, usually in late September or early October because they go by a different calendar than we do. For them the New Year is very significant and important because the New Year is more about them remaining spiritually healthy.

As Christians I don’t believe it is important or necessary to follow all their traditions or practices, but I do believe we can learn something significant from them. For example, the themes of these holy days are also significant for Christians; and that is the subject of sin and atonement. It is a holiday that Jesus celebrated as well since it is Biblical.
This two day Jewish New Year celebration is called Rosh Hashanah. In their theological interpretation, the day is said to be the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve, the first man and woman

Actually ‘Rosh,’ means ‘head’ in Hebrew. ‘Ha,’ in Hebrew means ‘the.’ And ‘shanah’ means ‘year.’
So it’s the ‘head of the year’ or the first of the new year.
In Numbers 29:1, it says, ‘On the first day of the seventh month, you shall have a holy [summoned] assembly; you shall do no laborious work. It will be for you a day of blowing the trumpets (the shofar, ram’s horn).” (Amplified Bible)
So regarding this Holy day, there would be no working, and secondly we see that it is the day of the horn.
Rosh Hashanah is also the beginning of a period called, ‘The Days of Awe.’ It is a ten-day period starting with Rosh Hashanah and ended with Yom Kippur and is commonly known as the ‘Days of Repentance.’ This is a time for serious introspection, a time to consider the sins of the previous year and repent before Yom Kippur (or the Day of Atonement).

If you remember, it was the only time that the Jewish High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies to make atonement for the Jewish nation, and it was also when the priest would lay hands on the head of the scapegoat (symbolically transferring the people’s sins on the goat) and then it was released into the wilderness.
Jesus would have thins in this holiday. He would have gone to the Temple, offered the sacrifice, went to the Synagogue, prayed, and would have heard the blowing of the shofar or rams horn.

Now there are a couple of principles we should consider about this holiday.
Both Christians and Jews share the idea that we all sin and the believe in the miracle of repentance, that no matter how far away from God we go we have the ability for regeneration and restoration.

There is the possibility for ‘tshuva’ (chu va) which means repentance. Actually it comes from the root ‘shuva’ which means, ‘return, or return to your true self, your pure self.’
Jewish people believe that God gives them the opportunity and responsibility during this time to look at their lives, they are days of reflection; and sometimes that’s all it takes to get us back on the right track.

You may not need someone pointing their finger in your face saying, ‘You have sinned!’. Sometimes all it takes is that time of reflection when one asks themselves, ‘Where am I? Where’s my life? Where am I headed? Is this really where I want to be? And am I where I know that I would like to be?’
The Jewish New year is very different than the secular New Year celebration. It not a time for getting drunk, of partying. When Jesus celebrated Rosh Hashanah He did not celebrate it by going into some city square to watch a ball drop and watch fireworks. He celebrated it in a synagogue. He celebrated it with his family, with bread, with wine, with fruit, with the blessings of the food and sharing with loved ones.

So it was not a time of celebrating with levity, but rather a celebrating with fear and trembling because they fear God’s judgement.
One of the ongoing themes of the Days of Awe, is the concept that God has “books” that He writes our names in; writing down who will live and who will die, who will have a good life and who will have a bad life for the next year. These books are written in on Rosh Hashanah, but our actions during the Days of Awe can alter God’s decree.
The actions that change the decree are: repentance, prayer, good deeds (usually, charity). These “books” are sealed on Yom Kippur. This concept of writing in books is the source of their common greeting during this time. They greet one another by saying, “May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year”, or the full was to say it is, “May you be inscribed in the book of life for the new year.”

Among the customs of this time, it is common to seek reconciliation with people you may have wronged during the course of the year. The Jewish Talmud maintains that Yom Kippur atones only for sins between man and God. To atone for sins against another person, you must first seek reconciliation with that person, righting the wrongs you committed against them if possible.

Another key ritual during Rosh Hashanah is blowing of the trumpet or horn. It was called the shofar, usually a ram’s horn. The sound of the shofar is intended to awaken the listeners from their “slumbers” and alert them to the coming judgment.

And there were three different sounds that they made. The first one was a long drawn out sound which signified coming before God and pleading their case, and pleading for life. Then there are three broken sounds. And then if it is real repentance, there it is a series of short sharp wailing sounds. And then trusting that God will forgive you go back to the first sound which is that long drawn out, confident sound.

So the horn sounds go from confidence, to breaking down to speak, to crying, and then back to confidence trusting that God will give us repentance. You will hear a hundred of those horn sounds in the synagogue on each one of the two days of the Rosh Hashanah celebration.

So what is the origin and significance of the shofar?

Look at Exodus 19:16 “So it happened on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and flashes of lightning, and a thick cloud was on the mountain, and a very loud blast was sounded on a ram’s horn, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.”

And verse 19, “ And it happened, as the blast of the ram’s horn grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him with [a voice of] thunder.”

This is when God gave the Ten Commandments and He revealed it with the horn. So the first reason for the shofar or the significance of it, is that it’s a time of revelation. It’s a sign of revelation from God. And it is a time of God revealing Himself to the Jewish people.

#2 The 2nd meaning, in Psalm 98:6 it says “With trumpets and the sound of the horn. Shout with joy before the King, the LORD.”
So it is a sign the King is coming. Even today in many societies; when the king comes, horns are sounded to announced his arrival.
So we see that the 2nd meaning of the shofar is as a sign of God’s kingship Jews re-establish God’s kingship in their lives.

#3 Then there is the third one which is called the ‘akeidah’ (a kay da) – Do you remember when God tested Abraham by asking his to sacrifice his son Isaac? The binding of Isaac and the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his own son is another important theme in Judaism. It had to do with Abraham’s willingness to offer up his son when God tested him. And as you know, just before he strikes his son the Lord stops him. Abraham then finds a ram close by whose horns are tangled up in a bush and he offers it instead of Isaac. So the Jews take the rams horn and use it on Rosh Hashanah as well.

Some other customs for Rosh Hashanah:

No work is permitted on Rosh Hashanah. Much of the day is spent in synagogue, where the regular daily liturgy is somewhat expanded. In fact, there is a special prayer book used for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur because of the extensive liturgical changes for these holidays. As I mentioned earlier the Jewish people are to spend much time reflecting on how to be a better person and actually start to take step to be one.

Special foods are also eaten during this festival as well, like eating apples dipped in honey, a symbol of a wish for a sweet new year. Some other symbolic foods eaten are dates, black-eyed peas, leeks, spinach and gourds and beet leaves, all of which are mentioned in the Talmud. Pomegranates are used in many traditions to symbolize being fruitful like the pomegranate with its many seeds.

Typically, a blessing will be said over two loaves of bread, known as challah. The round shape symbolizes a crown, a reminder of the kingship of God. Challah also stands for the circle of life, and the hope that our lives endure without end. It is usually a very bumpy bread baked because the dough is braided before it is baked. The bread highs and lows symbolize the highs and lows that happened throughout the year.

Challah is sometimes baked with a ladder on top in recognition that only God decides who climbs up or down the ladder of life.
Jews may also visit graves. It is thought that the prayers or good wishes of the dead can help the living. By wishing each other well and sending cards, people let friends know what happened in the past year and what plans lie ahead. Christmas cards and get-togethers fill a similar role for Christians.

Another popular practice of the holiday is something called Tashlikh (“casting off”). Some walk to flowing water, such as a creek or river on the afternoon of the first day and empty their pockets into the river, symbolically casting off their sins. Small pieces of bread or small stones are commonly put in the pocket to cast off. This practice is not discussed in the Bible, but is a long-standing custom. This is normally observed on the first day, before afternoon services. I’m not sure but I can’t help but wonder it this practice is similar to when they cast their sins on the scapegoat and then released it.

Some Jews are even baptized or immersed to start the new year off cleansed. They call this ceremonial cleansing Mikvah.

Yes, as Christians we know that we are saved by the grace of God, because of what Jesus did on that cross. His blood was actually offered for the atonement of our sin once and for all. But I also believe that it would be wise for us to take some time to do what the Jews do during their New Year.

The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Cor. 13:5 “ Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?”

1 Cor. 11:28 he wrote, “Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup.”

In Philippians 2:12 Paul also warns Christians to “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,”
Self-examination is important if one want to better themselves.

So I say, take some time to reflect on your life, your actions, your walk with God. Make sure that your priorities are right, and if they are not repent.
Get back on the right track. The apostle Peter wrote, in 2 Peter 1:10-11, “Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

May it be our prayer, and our hope and our wish to be right before our Lord. This time of the year maybe we should take a little extra time to think about our life, our actions, and our attitudes and ask for forgiveness for our sins, trusting that our God is loving Father who will treat us kindly, lovingly, and give us all long life now and forever more if we choose to do what is right.