Blow those trumpets!
The festival was set to run for two days because of the uncertainty of the
moon—imagine trying to predict just when the new moon would appear—so the day
of the festival was given two days. Surely one of them would have the new
moon—so that they could celebrate the New Year. This also strengthened the observance
of each day—making it one long day so that the holiness of both days was fixed.
On the second night people ate new fruit and wore new clothes.
Happy New Year—a good
year. May you be inscribed for a good year in the Book of Life. Typical
prayer during Rosh Hashanah
"Who is like unto you, O God...And
You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea." Biblical
passages including readings about the birth of Isaac (birth after barrenness),
the binding of Isaac to be sacrificed (rescue from sacrifice), the birth of
Samuel (birth of children to remind us of the birthday of the world), and a
reading from Jeremiah that includes the deliverance of the people of Israel
from exile (demonstrating God’s love for his people).
The shofar horn is sounded several times during the convocation
and as part of the benediction or berakhot. The principles of Judaism are
reflected in that closing: the acceptance of God as King of the universe; an
acknowledgment that God intervenes to reward the good and punish the wicked;
and the recognition that God revealed Himself
to the Israelites at Sinai and will reveal Himself again when He brings
about the end of days. The reward of the judgment was that the names of the
righteous that past year would be written in the Book of Life. The names of the
wicked would be written in the Book of Death. If a person was not totally
righteous or totally wicked they had ten days until Yom Kippur to repent and be
sealed in the Book of Life for that year.
Heavenly Father – hear
the sound of the trumpet—the shofar—praising you and acknowledging You as God
and King. May our names be inscribed in Your Book of Life because we believe in
Jesus as Your Son and our Savior.
© 2012 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
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