Focus
on ...
The Days of Awe: Rosh Hashanah to Yom
Kippur Speak
to the Israelite people thus: In the seventh month,
on the
first day of the month, you shall observe complete
rest, a sacred
occasion commemorated with loud blasts.
Leviticus [Vayikra#]
24* Then
an angel of the LORD called to him from heaven:
"Abraham!
Abraham!" And he answered, "Here I am."
And
He said, "Do not raise your hand against the boy or
do anything
to him. For now I know that you fear G-d^,
since you have not
withheld your son, your favored one
from Me." When Abraham
looked up, his eye fell upon a
ram, caught in a thicket by its
horns. So Abraham went
and took the ram and offered it up as a
burnt offering in
place of his son. ... Genesis [Bereishis]
22: 11-13* Rosh
Hashanah: This year, at sundown on September 29th, Rosh
Hashanah, the Jewish New Year [5761] began. It comes at the
beginning of the 7th month of the Jewish calendar, Tishrei,
commemorating the creation of the universe. {The 1st month of the
Jewish year is actually Nissan, in the midst of which the Exodus
is commemorated.} It is held that, on Rosh Hashanah, the
Lord^ writes in the book of life and death who shall live and who
shall die, who shall prosper and who shall see misfortune in the coming
year. This is reflected in the traditional greeting extended
during the days to Yom Kippur: "May you be inscribed
for a good year." Rosh Hashanah is the
start of a 10-day cycle, known as the Days of Awe [Yamim Nora'im],
a time of reflection and repentance [teshuva], when it is
incumbent upon Jews to set their lives in order before the Lord^.
[See Teshuva, below.] The cycle ends with the highest of Jewish
Holy Days, Yom Kippur -- the Day of Atonement. Rosh
Hashanah is mentioned in the Torah as the Day of Remembrance
[Yom Hazikaron]. The prayer service for the day is long,
the only one longer being that for Yom Kippur. It is also
the time when the shofar [the ram's horn] is blown ...
traditionally, one-hundred times on each of the two days of Rosh
Hashanah {unless it falls on the Sabbath, in which case the horn is
not blown}. The sounding of the shofar is a call to
remember the sacrifice of the ram which Abraham offered in place of
Isaac after the Lord^ stayed Abraham's hand and showed His mercy. One
of the traditions at meals during this time is to eat a slice of apple
or a piece of hallah dipped in honey, in the hope of a "good and
sweet" New Year. A blessing said at such times follows: Another
observation of Rosh Hashanah is Tashlikh [Hebrew, "to
throw"]. The custom is to go to a river {or other body of
water} and symbolically cast one's sins into it. The custom is
attributed two at least two sources: One places the allusion in a
Midrash text, in which Abraham on his journey with Isaac is tested by
Satan with a number of obstacles, including an impassable river.
Another attributes it to a verse from the prophet Micah:
"He will take us back in love; / He will cover up our
iniquities, / You will hurl all our sins / Into the depths of the
sea." Micah 7:19. Teshuva:
As mentioned earlier, one of the solemn tasks of The Days of Awe is to
set one's life in order, before G-d and with others, in order to prepare
for Yom Kippur. This is why the 10-day cycle is also known
as Aseret Y'mei Teshuva, the Ten Days of Repentance. For
this reason, it is incumbent upon everyone to sincerely seek forgiveness
of those one has wronged or offended. In fact, even if one has
done so, but has been refused forgiveness by the wronged party, it is
generally held that at least two more attempts be made. In
similar fashion, it is incumbent upon the wronged party to be forgiving,
so much so that if one who has been wronged persists in refusing
forgiveness, it is considered cruel and a wrong in itself. Of
course, since reconciliation & forgiveness require not only that one
be sincere in seeking to reconcile, but that the wrong be righted, there
are some wrongs which may be considered beyond forgiveness. In any
case, the Mishna notes: "Yom Kippur does not
atone until [one] appeases his neighbors." [Mishna Yoma
8:9.] Next
pg. ... *
This and other Torah text is taken from the Jewish Publication Society
edition of The Tanakh, 1985. The word for the Almighty,
even when spelled out in the text, is truncated here as G-d.
#
Transliterations of Hebrew words are from a number of sources, q.v.,
below.
^ [Blessed Be He] Sources:
The Tanakh, Jewish Publication Society, NY, 1985.
To Be a Jew: A Guide to Jewish Observance in Contemporary Life,
Hayim Halevy Donin, Basic Books, NY, 1972.
Jewish
Literacy, Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, Wm. Morrow & Co., NY, 1991.
On-Line: The
Orthodox Union
Torah.org's
Project Genesis
Virtual
Jerusalem - Rosh Hashanah |
