What's Rosh Hashanah, And How Do We Celebrate?

Background

Rosh Hashanah, also known as the ‘Feast of Trumpets,’ is mentioned in the Bible as a significant holiday. The Bible doesn’t mention the name ‘Rosh Hashanah,’ but Leviticus 23:24 refers to it in Hebrew as ‘Zichron Teruah,’ which has been translated as: “a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets.”

Rosh Hashanah in the Bible

Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the Jewish High Holy Days and is a time for reflection and repentance. It’s celebrated on the first day of the seventh month, Tishrei, and is one of the appointed feasts outlined in the Hebrew Bible. Numbers 29:1 calls this feast “a day for you to blow the trumpets,” on which we should have a “holy convocation” and refrain from work. On this Shabbat-like feast, we sound the shofar, which serves as a call to repent.

Ezra and Nehemiah also mention the first day of the seventh month, and on this day Ezra read God's Law to those who returned to Israel from Babylonian captivity (Nehemiah 7:73-8:12). His words moved the people to repent and to keep Sukkot, the Feast of Booths (Ezra 3:1-4, Nehemiah 8:14-18).

Sounding the Trumpet

The trumpet is mentioned throughout the Old and New Testaments. It’s often referred to as ‘shofar’ (a ram’s horn) that was used for various purposes such as worship at the Temple service, and also to call for war (see Joshua 6:4-5). The Shofar would also be blown when anointing a new king (1 Kings 1:39), and it will be sounded again to announce the coming of the Messiah and to resurrect the dead:

Repentance

With Rosh Hashanah, we enter the 10 Days of Awe that lead up to the Day of Atonement (10th day of the 7th month), which foreshadows God’s judgement on the Day of the Lord (Joel 2:1). As such, the ‘sounding of the trumpet’ serves as a wake-up call for us, to self-reflect and make things right with those around us, as well as with God.

For Believers?

Rosh Hashanah was for ancient Israel, and it’s still very much relevant for us as believers today, as we’re still very much in need of repentance in this broken world. In our local congregation, we gather on this commanded day of rest in awe of all God has done throughout the past year, and to ask for His blessing to be poured out on us in the coming year.

How Do We Celebrate?

- In the evening of Rosh Hashanah, it’s common to celebrate Rosh Hashanah with family and friends. At our local congregation, we prepare a community meal where everyone signs up and brings a dish for the traditional meal. Be sure to check out our post on the Simanim - the traditional foods for Rosh HaShanah that contain a creative blend of the traditional Jewish blessings plus the blessings our community has created over the past 45 years.

- The following morning, we have a Rosh Hashanah prayer service. For more information on our services, please see our event calendar. It’s common to wear white clothes for Rosh Hashanah, to symbolize purity (but it’s definitely not a must).