Shana Tovah (“Happy New Year”) from Bridges for Peace

October 2, 2024

by: Ilse Strauss

Wednesday, 2 October 2024 | Sunset tonight ushers in Rosh HaShanah, which in Hebrew means “head of the year.” It marks the beginning of the year 5785 on the Jewish calendar.

Although Israel recognizes the Gregorian calendar, the biblical festivals and holidays are determined by the calendar we read about in the Scriptures. Rosh HaShanah is no different. The two-day feast is celebrated on the first and second day of the seventh month, the month of Tishrei.

Rosh HaShanah is also known as the Feast of Trumpets or Yom HaTeruah (the Day of the Blowing). The reason for these names is found in God’s instructions to Moses regarding this feast in Leviticus 23:23–24, “Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the children of Israel, saying: “In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.”’”

Today, thousands of years later, the children of Israel remain true to God’s instructions. On Rosh HaShanah, the echo of the shofar or ram’s horn is heard throughout the Land of Israel. Sounding the shofar issues a clarion call for the season and signifies the peoples’ recognition of the Kingship of God.

There is, however, an added significance to Rosh HaShanah. The festival signals the start of the holiest time of the year on the Jewish calendar.

“The 10 days between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) are called the 10 Days of Awe,” explains Rev. Rebecca J. Brimmer, international president of Bridges for Peace. “This 10-day period is typically a time of solemn introspection, a time of searching your soul and to set things right between you and God, as well as your fellow man.”

Rosh HaShanah is traditionally celebrated as the Jewish New Year. We find the reason in the Mishnah, which is the first written recording of Jewish tradition. “The first of Tishrei is the beginning of the year as regards [the calculation of] years, of the shmitah cycle (seventh year of allowing the earth to rest), the yovel (Jublilee) cycle, for planting [trees] and for produce” (Rosh HaShanah 1:1).

Author and Rabbi Arthur Waskow clarifies further: “This is then the new year for learning how a human being can turn toward God. Perhaps it is the head of the year because the head is raised toward heaven, away from the earth—while Pesach [Passover] celebrates the more earthly liberation, the freedom of our bodies [from slavery in Egypt].”

New Year’s Day celebrations on December 31 in the secular West are often marked by lavish parties and merriment. The Hebrew New Year is different. The atmosphere of Rosh HaShanah is one of reverence and devotion, described by some as “subdued joyousness.”

“As I hear the sounds of the shofar at Rosh HaShanah, I reflect on these thoughts and feel at one with the Jewish people,” Brimmer says. “I find myself examining my heart to see if there is anything I need to correct. Are there relationships that need mending? What is God speaking to me about? What do I need to concentrate on to become the woman that God has planned me to be?”

For a typical Rosh HaShanah feast, tables are laden with an abundance of food, signifying the hope for fruitfulness and prosperity in the year to come. There are apples dipped in honey to symbolize the desire for a sweet new year. Fish, cooked with its head still attached to suggest the head of the year, is often served as the main dish. Round foods are also a firm favorite at all festival tables to represent the cycle of the year.

The past year of 5784 on the Jewish calendar has arguably been one of the hardest for the people of Israel. October 7—the most brutal massacre in Jewish history since the end of the Holocaust—occurred during the first weeks of 5784. For the next 12 months, the people of Israel waged a war against evil in Gaza, fighting on the frontlines on behalf of the rest of the free world in a battle between light and darkness.

It has been a year of trauma, loss, agony, anger, sorrow, tragedies, miracles, triumphs, unparalleled heroism and just about every other emotion imaginable. Thousands of families mourn loved ones who will not sit at the Rosh HaShanah table this year. And 101 families wait in agony for word of their loved ones still held hostage in Gaza. Moreover, over the past year, baseless accusations on the world stage has turned the international community against the Jewish people. Antisemitism is at an all-time high. World bodies like the United Nations, the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice stand at the ready with new ludicrous rulings and resolutions that seek to rewrite history.

Yet Israel still steps into 5785 with hope. Thanks to the ingenuity of Israel’s intelligence and defense establishment, what seemed like an inevitable war with Hezbollah just two weeks ago, has been deescalated. And Israel continues to gain ground against Hamas in Gaza. This is good news indeed, but ultimately not the source of Israel’s hope.

Like their forefathers before them, Israel continues to lift their eyes to the hills, and continues to reach the same conclusion about the source of their strength. “My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep,” (Ps. 121:2–4).

From Jerusalem—the eternal capital of Israel and the Jewish people, from the city of our God and the city of the great King (Ps. 48:1–2)—Bridges for Peace wishes you and your family chag sameach (a happy holiday) in the same way loved ones in Israel greet one another on Rosh HaShana: “L’shanah tovah tichatevu” (May you be inscribed for a good year.)

Please note that our Bridges for Peace offices will be closed on Thursday and Friday in celebration of the holiday. We will resume normal operations on Monday, October 7.

Posted on October 2, 2024

Source: (Bridges for Peace, October 2, 2024)

Photo Credit: Joshua Bousel/flickr.com

Photo License: Flickr