Rosh Hashanah
When is Rosh
Hashanah?
1st and 2nd of
Tishri, this year it's the 26th and 27th of Sept. 2003
Fri. and Sat.
Why do we celebrate
Rosh Hashanah?
On this day we
reaffirm our acceptance of God as our King. The Jewish people believe on this
day God judges all of His creations and decides on their fate in the coming
year. The NC Scriptures tell Believers: "There is therefore now no
condemnation to them which are in Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus), who walk not
after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Romans 8:1.
Rosh Hashanah is two days long even in Israel. Only one
day in the Bible It's called one long day.
What does Rosh Hashanah
mean?
There are four
possible names for this Festival.
Yom Teruah
The Day of
Sounding. On this day we sound the Shofar (ram's horn).
Rosh Hashanah
The New Year.
This is the most popular name of all.
Yom Hadin
The Day of
Judgement. This is a time for thinking about how we can improve our lives for the
future. It is a time for preparing ourselves for Yom Kippur (The Day of
Atonement) on the 10th of the month. See Daniel 7:9-10.
Yom HaZikaron
The Day of
Memorial (Remembering). This refers to the fact that God remembers about all
living creatures and does not forget any of us. We remember all His has dome
for us! We ask for mercy on this day, and we are assured He will grant it if
our hearts are right.
What are the customs of
Rosh Hashanah?
1. The Shofar
The Torah
commands us to sound the shofar on Rosh Hashanah. A person should hear 100
blasts from the shofar on each day of Rosh Hashanah. The shofar is made from an
animal horn, preferably from a ram.
There are three
sounds made with the shofar:
Tekiah - one long blast.
Shevarim
- three shorter blasts.
Teruah
- a series of quick blasts.
See our page on Sounding The Shofar - http://www.mayimhayim.org/Shofar.htm
There are many meanings for why we blow the Shofar on
Rosh Hashanah. The sound of the shofar serves as a "wake-up" call to
arouse our souls to repentance. The sound of the shofar was present when we
received the Torah. Thus when we hear the shofar we are reminded to strengthen
our commitment to the Torah. The sound of the shofar (which is usually made
from the horn of a ram) reminds us of when Abraham tied down his son Yitzchak
(Issac) to sacrifice him to God, as God had told him, and God stopped him at
the last second and gave him a ram to sacrifice instead.
2. Foods
Food places an
integral part of many of the Jewish Festivals, and Rosh Hashanah is no
exception. The Challah
For Rosh
Hashanah, the traditional shape of the challah is round, remembering God is
King.
On the Sabbath and other holidays, after the blessing and
before partaking of the challah, it is dipped into salt. On Rosh Hashanah, it
is dipped in honey. This custom symbolizes our hope that the coming year will
be sweet New Year.
Apple Dipped in Honey
After dipping a
sweet apple into honey, the blessing over fruit is recited plus the additional
prayer: "May it be your will to renew for us a good and sweet year."
The symbolism
of the honey here is also connected to a sweet year.
Head of Sheep or Fish
Some partake of
this and say: "May it be your will that we should be at the head and not
at the tail."
3. Doing Tashlich
Tashlich, from
the root word which means "to cast away" is the practice by which
Jews go to a flowing body of water and symbolically "throw away"
their sins. This occurs in the afternoon of the first day of Rosh Hashanah or
the second day if the first falls on Shabbat (Saturday). This practice is based
on a verse from the book of the Prophet Micah where it says, "And Thou
wilt cast ("ve-tashlich") all their sins into the depths of the
sea" (Micah, 7:19)
To do Tashlich, you basically go to a running body of
water. A river, sea, or lake are the best choices, but we have done in pool as
well letting the backwash take our bread away. Once there, several prayers are
recited. And that's it. The water has symbolically carried away your sins and
you are free to start over. 1 John 1:9 tells us we can do this anything we have
need. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." This is Tashlich!
4. Greetings
On the first
night of Rosh Hashanah, there is a custom that people exchange the following
greeting: "May you be inscribed and sealed immediately for a good
life." Believers know that they have been inscribed and sealed by the Holy
Spirit of God.
In some Sephardic communities, the greeting is, "May
you be inscribed for a good year; may you be worthy of abundant years." We
are worthly just because we are in Messiah Yeshua, no other "right
standing" can we claim.
5. No Sleep In The
Afternoon
This is just as
it sounds, some people do not take a nap on Rosh Hashanah afternoon. The source
for this custom is a saying in the Jerusalem Talmud, "If one sleeps at the year's beginning
(Rosh Hashanah), his good fortune likewise sleeps."
You can also find more
info at these links on-line, enjoy:
1) http://www.ou.org/chagim/roshhashannah/
2) http://www.everythingjewish.com/RoshH/RH_origins.htm
3) http://www.torahtots.com/holidays/rosh/roshclr.htm
4) http://www.akhlah.com/holidays/roshhashana/shofar.asp
(This one lets you hear the Shofar Blast)
And finally, from all of us at Mayim
Hayim Ministries, we pray you will have a wonderful and healthy New Year
in our Lord Yeshua...
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Chag
Sameach,
Love,
Barbara, Dee, Rabbi Mike, Adah <><
Charles Mims
http://www.the-sandbox.org
