This year at sundown on Sunday, September 9, Jewish communities around the world will celebrate Rosh HaShanah: The Jewish New Year. The Scriptures tell us the Jewish New Year actually was to begin at Passover in the spring and seven months later the Feast of Trumpets is observed on the first day of the seventh month. So, how did we Jewish people come up with a New Year in the seventh month? Well, we’re creative! But seriously, this idea developed around 2,400 years ago when we came out of Babylonian captivity in the month of “Tishrai,” (a Babylonian word meaning “beginning”), and we adopted the Babylonian civil New Year as our own.

Traditional Observance

Rosh HaShanah introduces the most serious season on the Jewish calendar known as ‘The Days of Awe,’ a 10 day period that leads to Yom Kippur. It’s a time of soul searching, of making things right with God, and with one’s neighbors. Jewish people celebrate Rosh Hashanah through various rituals including traditional foods; greeting one another with “L’shana tovah tikatayvu”, which means, “May you be inscribed (in the Book of Life) for a happy year!”; observing the custom of ‘Tashlich’, a 500 year old tradition practiced by going to the sea shore (or river bank) where participants toss breadcrumbs into the water as prayers are said regarding God’s forgiveness (see Micah 7:19). The central aspect of Rosh Hashanah services is the sounding of the shofar, or ram’s horn. The shofar brings to memory God’s provision of the ram that Abraham sacrificed in place of his only son, Isaac. Biblically, the shofar has more of a future, prophetic perspective. But the Scriptures require more than ritual to obtain forgiveness from God, and as meaningful as tradition may be, a New Year’s celebration may only update last year’s problems and pain.