What is Rosh Hashanah?
"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." - Leviticus 23:23-25 KJV
In Hebrew, Rosh Hashanah means, "head of the
year". It is the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve, a day of
judgment, and coronation by the Jewish people proclaiming God King of the
Universe.
This holy day is the day of the sounding of the shofar. The
shofar is a ram's horn which is blown like a trumpet. (A ram is a male sheep.)
The shofar represents the trumpet blast of a people’s coronation of their king.
The sound of the shofar is also a call to repentance, for Rosh Hashanah is the
anniversary of man’s first sin and his repentance, and is the first of the “Ten
Days of Repentance” which end with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
The shofar
(ram’s horn) is a reminder of the Binding of Isaac which also occurred on Rosh
Hashanah, in which a ram took Isaac’s place as an offering to God. Isaac is
like the people of God - a holy, living sacrifice, giving themselves in love in
service to God. The Ram was a shadow of God providing Himself a substitute
blood sacrifice, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world – Jesus
Christ (John 1:29). The shofar's call is like a love call...
One of the most important observances of this holiday is
hearing the sounding of the shofar. A total of 100 blasts are heard over the
course of the Rosh Hashanah services.
Rosh Hashanah began at sunset October 2, 2016 and ended at
nightfall October 4, 2016. It will be the Jewish Year 5777.
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