Feast of Trumpets Rosh Hashanah -"head of the year" 

rosh means head, while hashanah means year

 

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.     Leviticus 23: 24

 

Announces God’s Kingship:

 

With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the LORD, the King.

Psalm 98: 6

 

A call to alert and to awaken us:

 

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.  1 Thessalonians 4: 16-17

 

The blast of the shofar at Rosh Hashanah is a call to repentance, but for those of us who know Christ, it reminds us of His return. "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first (1 Thessalonians 4:16).

 

Rosh Hashanah begins the high Holy Days and is a prophetic look at the final days and Yeshua’s return.

 

What a joyful celebration in which we bring in with the blowing of the shofar.  This Holyday holds many traditions that we cherish and which hold reminders to us…

 

How We Celebrate

 

- we begin our celebration of this Holyday as we begin them all, with the lighting of candles

 

“Blessed art though, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us through Yeshua, the  light of the world and has allowed us to reach this season

 

- the eating of apples dipped in honey (a symbol for a sweet year)“blessed are you Lord our God, King of the universe, creator of the fruit of the  tree”

 

- a fish cooked and served with it’s head, placed in front of the father (symbolic that he is the head of the home, his leadership under God, leading with the love of God and the spirit of servant leadership)

 

- carrots (in Hebrew carrots means “to increase”) (symbolic of God’s increase of blessings as we walk with Him)

 

- we decorate a cake as Jewish tradition holds this is the anniversary of the creation of the world – when all the sons of God shouted for joy (Job 38:7)

 

- we greet each other with L’ Shana Tova – for a sweet year

 

- read Psalm 81 – one devoted to the Feast of Trumpets

 

- even the challah bread is different for this night shaped round (a reminder of the kingship of this holiday and also symbolic for a full/round year) a small amount of dough is used to make a ladder to remind us our prayers are directed to God on High a small amount of dough made into bird wings (symbolic of God’s protection as in Isaiah 31:5)

 

-bitter foods are avoided (avoidance of bitter times of the year ahead)

 

- after dinner we read together the story of Abraham and Isaac

  (Genesis 22: 1-14) – reading and talking about the provision of the ram

  to be sacrificed in Isaac’s place – a picture of what was to come in His gift of Jesus.  We have also had fun acting out this story.

 

 

Avraham raised his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in the bushes by its horns. Avraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering in place of his son.  Genesis 22:13 CJB

 

An interesting tradition says that the Lord preserved the two horns from the sacrificial ram given in place of Isaac.  He sounded one horn at Sinai and will sound the other when He redeems His people by the coming of Messiah at the end of the age.  The Complete Book of Jewish Observance by Leo Trepp.

 

- Sometimes we sing, sometimes we put on music and dance.  It is also a tradition of ours to watch a movie called Miracle at Midnight.  It's a true story that takes place in Denmark, in the year 1945.  A Dr. Koster gets word that the Nazis plan to catch the Jewish families by surprise on the night of Rosh Hashanah, a night they would all be home celebrating as a family, and round them up for the concentration camps.   Dr. Koster and many others risked their lives to save 7,000 of their Jewish neighbors by giving them shelter in their homes and found a way to get them out of Denmark, even taking care of their homes and pets until they could return after the war.  What a reminder of love thy neighbor. 

 

Downloads

 

Blessing for Feast of Trumpets

A little help for those who are looking for the blessings recited on this special day. 

 

 This is such a special Holyday, one that is a combination of a joyous celebration but at the same time one of quiet reflection and solemnity.

 

"Seed Thoughts" is something I adapted from an article I read at Jews for Jesus for use with our family.  "The Call Of My Beloved" is a journal adapted from the article Can We Hear The Sound Of The Trumpet - Bridges For Peace Teachers Letters.  If you need help in printing and compiling these journals visit HERE.  You will need Acrobat Reader to print the following file.  You can get it free, just click on the Acrobat Reader below: