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

Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year. (In Hebrew, it means head of the year). It lasts for two days, which began after sundown last night (Wednesday). The primary theme of the day is acceptance of God as King. The sounding of the shofar represents the trumpet blast of a people's coronation of their king. The sound of the shofar (ram's horn) is also a call to repentance, for Rosh Hashanah is the anniversary man's first sin and his repentance, and is the first of the "Ten Days of Repentance" which will culminate in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

This 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, horn = ‘strength’) The shofar 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 to service to God. The ram was like God providing Himself a substitute blood sacrifice, because God loved Isaac (and Abraham) so much. The shofar's call is like a love call... The beautiful fulfillment of this is God taking on the form of man to be the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world – Jesus Christ. Taking our place of death, we, like Isaac, become a living sacrifice.

"The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." - John 1:29 KJV

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." - Romans 12:1-2 KJV

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 begins at sunset September 20, 2017 and ends at nightfall September 22, 2017 It will be the Jewish Year 5778.

See the link below for many articles about Rosh Hashanah.

http://www.chabad.org/holidays/JewishNewYear/template_cdo/aid/4762/jewish/What-Is-Rosh-Hashanah.htm