Rosh HaShanah

Rosh Hashanah (Head of the New Year),

aka Yom Teruah (the Day of the Shofar Blast),

begins a 10-day period known as Yamim Noraim (the Days of Awe)

that ends with Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement).

Yom Teruah wakes you up, announcing that Yom Kippur is coming, and then the ten days in between become a time of self-reflection, repentance, and getting right with your fellow man.

L'Shana Tova Tikatevu: "May you be inscribed in the Book of Life for a good year" is a traditional Jewish greeting for the holiday, and has special significance when you read it in the context of Revelations 20, just one of several scriptures where the Book of Life is mentioned in the Word: "Next I saw a great white throne and the One sitting on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, both great and small, standing in front of the throne. Books were opened; and another book was opened, the Book of Life; and the dead were judged from what was written in those books, according to what they had done." Or consider from Revelations 21, who can enter the heavenly city? "...The only ones who may enter are those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life."

THE BLOWING OF THE SHOFAR
On Yom Teruah, the sounding of the shofar is a high point of the Rosh Hashanah services. It is very difficult to blow a shofar. The Tokeiah (shofar blower) may spend many hours practicing for his task in the preceding month of Elul.

The sound from the shofar is a series of defined blasts, sounding an alarm and creating a stirring repentant sound of lament. The sound is meant to be a rousing call to repentance on the part of each individual. It is meant to awaken everyone to remind them of the Creator and to inspire them to forsake their evils ways and return to God.

The detailed sounds have been established by centuries of tradition. There are four different sounds associated with the Yom Teruah service:

TEKIAH - A single blast beginning in musical mid-range and finishing as a high note. A pure unbroken sound calling each person to search their heart. The tekiah called the people to attention and gather them unto Moses. It is the calling note to get ahold of your attention. It is seen as the general summons to listen to God, to receive from Him the orders for the day. The prophet Amos asked, "Can a shofar be sounded in the city without the people trembling?" (Amos 3:6)

SHEVARIM - One tekiah broken into three shorter staccato blasts, producing a sighing, groaning sound. The noun shevarim is derived from the root shavar, meaning "to break". It occurs in the Bible, mainly in the singular, in the sense of "breaking, fracture, crushing, crashing." Jeremiah uses this Hebrew word in 50:22: "A sound of battle is in the land, and a great crashing." Do you hear the battle for our souls? ADONAI is near to those with broken hearts; he saves those whose spirit is crushed. (Psalm 34:18)

TERUAH - There are two main variants of the Teruah sound today. One tradition uses nine separate short notes in rapid sequence and the other is a single long call with nine vibrating tones, each producing a wailing lament much like you can hear today from women mourners in the Middle East. Teruah, partly from the Hebrew root ru'a, meaning "to shake, quake, vibrate", has taken on a double meaning: not only the "wind vibration" of the shofar blast defining the holiday "Yom Teruah", but also a human "quaking" before the bar of divine justice. A combination of the Shevarim groans and Teruah wails express the sorrow that comes upon a person when they realize the depths of their sin and their need to repent.

TEKIAH GEDOLAH - A very long Tekiah. This dramatic call requires a lot of practice on the part of the Tokeiah. This prolonged, unbroken sound is the final appeal for sincere repentance and atonement, for the Day of Judgment is at hand. What a Tekiah Gedolah will sound from that angel in Revelations 11 who's proclaiming: "The kingdoms of the world have become the Kingdom of our Lord and His Messiah, and He will rule forever and ever!" Amen.

AVINU MALKEINU
(During the high holidays, Avinu Malkeinu is recited several times. The number of petitions in the full version can range up to 44 requests, but varies with custom. This unique and moving prayer can be found in most Jewish Siddurs. Our version below has expanded upon the some of the original by including the revelation of Yeshua haMashiach and a desire to see the salvation of Israel.)

Our Father, Our King, we have sinned before You. Forgive us our sins through the atonement of Your Son.

Our Father, Our King, we have no God but you. There is no God like you in the Heavens. There is no one else we can look to for help.

Our Father, Our King, deal with us kindly for the sake of Your Name. Look mercifully upon Israel. Deliver her from distress and bring Israel to faith through Your Son.

Our Father, Our King, sound the Shofar for the deliverance and gather Israel from the four corners of the earth.

Our Father, Our King, bring peace between Jew and Gentile and among all peoples through the Prince of Peace, Yeshua haMashiach.

Our Father, Our King, let your Spirit be poured out in the last days that a great harvest of souls might be gathered and that all Israel shall be saved.

Our Father, Our King, may this revival lead to the sounding of the Shofar when we shall be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.

Our Father, Our King, let your judgment fall on the unrepentant and deliver us from their schemes in Yeshua’s name.

Our Father, Our King, fully defeat the plans of the adversary for our destruction and arise and establish your plan for our salvation.

"For the law of the Spirit of life in Messiah Yeshua has made me free from the law of sin and death that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." (Romans 8)