The Torah refers to Rosh HaShanah as Yom Teruah “Day of blowing [the Shofar])” or Yom haZikkaron “Day of Remembering.” It was not called Rosh HaShanah until the Talmudic times, a name taken from Ezekiel 40:1.
There are four New Years in the Jewish calendar:
Rosh HaShanah marks the beginning of what many term the “high holy days,” the days of repentance and seeking to have one’s life right before God and man. The month preceding Rosh HaShanah, Elul, is marked by blowing the shofar (ram’s horn) every morning at the morning service. The last week of Elul is marked by selichot, or penitential prayers. In modern times, these prayers are traditionally begun the Saturday night before Rosh HaShanah.
The common greeting for Rosh HaShanah (begun during Elul, the month preceding) is: Leshanah tovah “for a good year” or leshanah tovah tikatevu “may you be inscribed for a good year.” The Rabbis taught that on Rosh HaShanah God inscribes the names of all the righteous in His book of life for the coming year, thus the greeting. For this reason, the greeting is not used after Rosh HaShanah, since it would be indelicate to suggest that the person you are greeting is not inscribed. The Rabbis further taught that those whose righteous and unrighteous deeds are equal, hang in the balance and their inscription in the book of life is put off until Yom Kippur.
Obviously, such a perspective is foreign to the Messianic believer. We recognize that having one’s name inscribed in the book of life is not a matter of one’s good deeds, but the benefit of having the blood of Yeshua cover one’s sins. For this reason, we use the traditional leshanah tovah, “for a good year” as the traditional greeting.
The Rabbis taught that the command regarding the blowing of the shofar is fulfilled simply by hearing it blown. For this reason (and some additional ones), it is traditional to blow the shofar at least 100 times on Rosh HaShanah, so that all will have ample opportunity to hear it.
There are three types of blasts on the shofar: tekiah, one long blast; shevarim, three short blasts; and teruach, nine staccato blasts. The Torah does not state explicitly how many shofar blasts are required, but some Rabbis (based on a complicated exegesis of Lev. 25:9 and 23:24, and Num. 29:1) derive the necessity to have three blasts of teruach preceded and followed by tekiah. Others emphasized the need for the shofar to sound like groaning (shevarim). Thus, to accommodate all interpretations, the tradition is to blow the shofar in every possible combination: tekiah teruach tekiah, tekiah shevarim tekiah, tekiah shevarim teruach tekiah.
Most festivals celebrated outside of the Land are carried on for at least two days, because in earlier generations it was not always easy to determine exactly what day the festival should be celebrated. But Rosh HaShanah is celebrated for two days in Israel as well. Why? Since it is also Rosh Chodesh (beginning of a month), it was difficult in antiquity for all people in Jerusalem and its environs to be informed exactly when the new moon appeared (according to Rabbinic judgment). So, two days were celebrated to make sure all could participate. When the calendar was fixed in the Middle Ages, dwellers in Israel celebrated Rosh HaShanah on only one day, but it was later turned back to the former custom, and today even in Israel the holiday lasts two days. The second day is much like the first, with only minor changes in the liturgy.
The ten days between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur are called the “ten days of repentance.” This is the period, according to the Rabbis, when those who are not certain that their righteous deeds outweigh their sins strive to “tip the balance” on the side of righteousness (see below for more explanation of this). The Sabbath that falls in these days is called Shabbat Shuvah (Sabbath of returning) or Shabbat Teshuvah (Sabbath of repentance) and is marked by additions to the liturgy involving a seeking of repentance and making one‘s life right before God.
Rosh HaShanah emphasizes the sovereignty of God in creation and that He cares about the world and remembers all our deeds—that He is not removed from the world that He created. It reminds us of His kingship over us personally, and of our need to affirm Him as our King. And this, through the sounding of the shofar, reminds us of the Torah that He has graciously given to us, and of our need to receive it willingly and to plant it deeply into our hearts and lives. Thus, Rosh HaShanah brings to us the true image of God and reminds us that as creatures created in His image, we are to reflect His likeness to the world. This Yeshua did perfectly and He stands before us as the supreme example of One who fully accepted God’s kingship and lived accordingly.
Rosh HaShanah also carries with it an eschatological emphasis, a looking to the future when Yeshua will reign as king upon this earth. When He comes, the shofar will sound (1 Thess. 4:16) announcing His kingship, and He will set up His throne in Jerusalem. As we celebrate Rosh HaShanah, we thus anticipate the coming of our King Messiah, for to Him every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that He is Lord of all.
The rabbinic emphasis upon “deeds weighed in the balance” cannot stand in light of the truth of the gospel proclaimed throughout the Scriptures. Our standing before the Lord is not a matter of our good deeds, but the result of being brought near through the atoning work of our Savior, Yeshua. Rather than being a day of ultimate trembling, as followers of Yeshua we find in Yom Teruah, or Rosh HaShannah, a day of reflection upon the value of our being written in the book of life, and the debt of love we owe to the One Who has called us to Him. The sound of the Shofar reminds us that He continues to call us back to Him. In those areas of our lives were we have strayed into sin, the call of this Lord is to “return,” to seek repentance and forgiveness. We also reckon with the fact that He is our King, and that we show him our full allegiance and loyalty. Rosh HaShannah is a festival of renewal, and God’s appointed time to remind us of who we are in light of what He has done for us. It is therefore very needful, and a strategic appointment in our walk with Him.
