THE FALL FEASTS: ROSH HASHANAH This year, members of the Israeli Knesset will be toasting Rosh Hashanah at a bit of a different location. Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas has invited the Knesset’s Caucus on ending the Israeli-Arab Conflict to Ramallah this week, just in time for the Jewish New Year. More than two dozen Knesset members (MKs) welcomed a Palestinian delegation to the Knesset on July 31st, openly flying a Palestinian flag as they greeting the Palestinians. “It is logical that since you put up a Palestinian flag when we came here that when you come to our parliament, there will be an Israeli flag,” said Muhammad Madani, the head of Abbas’ new Palestinian Committee for Interaction with Israeli Society. Jewish communities throughout the world will celebrate Rosh Hashanah and the beginning of the Hebrew year 5774 as the sun sets next Wednesday. Rosh Hashanah literally means “head of the year” and commemorates the anniversary of the creation of the world. It is celebrated on the first day of the month of Tishri, which this year starts at sundown on September 4th and ends on the evening of the 6th. Many are looking forward to the New Year in Israel, where squabbles between Orthodox and non-Orthodox groups have caused tension and anger. A liberal woman’s group, Women of the Wall, have been in the middle of controversy, as women seek to pray out loud and wear (historically male) prayer shawls at the Western Wall, and efforts to dispel the tensions between the women and ultra-Orthodox Jews have not fully succeeded. Tova Ross at Haaretz writes: It’s incredible that just a few short decades ago we were facing mass extermination, where the way we practiced Judaism, how or where we prayed, or what exactly we believed mattered not at all but only that we had Jewish blood. And I have to wonder what God, today, really cares about: which group of women is praying the “right” way or how those women are treating each other? Whether a desire for modesty can be respected without name-calling, and whether people can recognize that their goal of modesty needs to be re-evaluated when women are getting spat on or rocks thrown at them when they step outside? …Rosh Hashanah is, in essence, our Jewish New Year, and offers us a chance to forget the ugliness and misdeeds of the past twelve months and adopt resolutions to do and be better… It seems amazing that Knesset members can be toasting the New Year with the Palestinians in Ramallah, while fellow Jews spit on each other over questions of proper and improper worship. The Fall Feasts The commandment to observe Rosh Hashanah is found in Leviticus 23:23–25: ”And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, ‘Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.’” It is also mentioned in Numbers 29:1: “And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work: it is a day of blowing the trumpets unto you.” One of the central features of Rosh Hashanah is the shofar. The shofar is an instrument made from a ram’s horn that sounds somewhat like a trumpet. In the Bible, Rosh Hashanah is referred to as Yom Teruah, the day of the sounding of the shofar, otherwise known as the Feast of Trumpets. The shofar is often representative of Abraham’s offering Isaac to God as a sacrifice on Mount Moriah (Genesis 22). It was then that God provided Abraham with a ram caught by its horns in a thicket as a substitute for Isaac. Rosh Hashanah is a time of both celebration and repentance. It is a time of spiritual renewal through prayer and deep personal reflection leading up to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, on the 10th day of Tishri (Leviticus 23:26-28). Rosh Hashanah is when the Jewish people recognize God as King and Judge over all living things. On Rosh Hashanah we celebrate the creation of the world, when “God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good,” (Genesis 1:31). The vast majority of Christians are unfamiliar with most of the traditional Jewish holidays. Yet they hold great spiritual and prophetic significance. In Colossians 2:16–17 Paul says, “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come. For more information about Rosh Hashanah or other Jewish holy days and their prophetic significance refer to our briefing The Feasts of Israel. Rosh Hashanah is a time of forgiveness and new beginnings. Please take some time out of your week for serious introspection. Examine your heart before God and spend time in prayer. May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year. [This is the first installment of a three part series on the fall feasts of Israel. Next week’s article will cover Yom Kippur: the Day of Atonement.] Related Links: The Feasts of Israel — 66/40 The Feasts of Israel — K-House Store Rosh Hashanah — Hebrew4Christians Abbas to Host Rosh Hashana Toast with MKs — The Jerusalem Post Rosh Hashanah A Chance For Redemption — Haaretz Women of the Wall Protest Over New Egalitarian Prayer Site South of the Kotel — Examiner
Posted on: Thu, 29 Aug 2013 04:44:52 +0000
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