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Another Perspective
Days of Reckoning (and Reconnoitering)
On Rosh Hashana all of mankind is put on trial, person by person.
The closest thing to a real theological schism within Judaism concerns the inner definition of the holidays of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, celebrated this year on September 9 and 18 (September 10 is appended to make Rosh Hashana a two-day event). In the Bible itself, the first is declared to be a special day, with the blowing of trumpets, but offers no more detail. Yom Kippur, nine days later, is described at greater length as a time where special forgiveness is granted for sins.
In the Oral Tradition, laid out in the Mishna and Talmud, these two holidays form a duumvirate. On Rosh Hashana all of mankind is put on trial, person by person. The trial is to determine if that person should receive the grant of one more year of life. If the verdict is clear, it is handed down the same day. But if the person is, like most of us, a mixed bag of virtue and vice, the case is continued until Yom Kippur. If the person can pull himself together to commit to behaving better in the future, he will be awarded another year.
The debate rages in the post-Talmudic era over why this is the appropriate time to dole out the time allotments for the coming year. One view believes that this day is the anniversary of the Creation of Man. Since the beginning of time, a system was put in place to require annual evaluations for each human being. This is why you hear people refer to this holiday as the Jewish New Year, and indeed the Jewish dating system shifts the year from 5770 to 5771 on this day, despite the Bible stating that this holiday is observed on “the first day of the seventh month.”
The other view, mostly drowned out by this point in history, believed that humanity came into being in the same month as Passover (the Exodus having occurred 2448 years later), which is why that is counted as the first month. Why, then, is humanity judged on this day? Since the Jews were forgiven for the Golden Calf on the tenth day of the seventh month, G-d henceforth instituted an annual trial nine days earlier, with the ten-day extended period allowing for improving the verdict through penitence.
In other words, either Rosh Hashana is the natural day for an annual trial because it is Man’s anniversary, in which case Yom Kippur is a sort of afterthought to help balance the trial. Or the opposite, Yom Kippur is a day of penitence generated by an event in Jewish history rather than human history, and Rosh Hashana, despite being scheduled earlier, is more the afterthought: a trial timed to utilize the opportunity for penance and penitence.
The liturgy reflects the first system, and most Jews are shocked to hear that the matter was once the subject of such controversy. The prayers recited include the phrase: “This is the day of Your initial creation.” And this one: “Today is the womb of the world.”
Thus, it is a universal holiday, despite being observed within the Jewish ritual system. It records the beginning of human history and asks us to reflect each year on the coming year. Is your life valuable enough to be worth sustaining? Are you deserving of the generous grant of an additional twelve months? Are you contributing enough to humanity to make your life a worthwhile investment? Food for thought. Happy New York, I hope…
About the Author
Jay D. Homnick, commentator and humorist, is a frequent contributor to The American Spectator. He also writes for Human Events. Here he speaks at the Rally for Religious Freedom in Miami on June 8, 2012.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (19) | Leave a comment
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Appleby| 9.9.10 @ 7:25AM
Thank you for the explanation. May you be inscribed in the Book of Life for another year!
AMENBRO| 9.9.10 @ 7:47AM
What the New Testament frees you from, Old Testament Law.
RCV| 9.9.10 @ 1:36PM
Our Jewish bretheren can deal with the Father as they have for millenia, sir, without your assistance.
martin j smith| 9.9.10 @ 7:50AM
This would be a better world if people looked at themselves relecting on their foibles instead of blaming others.
L'shana T'ova !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ryan| 9.9.10 @ 8:53AM
I think that the whole idea of "one more year" speaks to the need for complete redemption - that we are utterly unable to keep the Law in whatever form; remember, under the Jewish system, there was a continual need for sacrifice in the temple - so much that the priests were unable to rest (the one piece of furniture absent was a chair).
But if we have one perfect Sacrifice which is able to cover all our transgressions under the law...
cuban pete| 9.9.10 @ 8:55AM
Shana Tova Umetukah
KyMouse| 9.9.10 @ 9:36AM
"The first of the Jewish High Holy Days that were listed in Leviticus, Rosh Hashanah, commonly called the Jewish New Year, is a joyous time of celebration and at the same time a season of reflection and solemnity. The blast of the shofar (ram's horn) calls us to humble ourselves and recognize our need for God's grace. This is apparent in some of the traditions associated with the festival. We greet one another by saying, 'La shanah tova tikatevu,' which means, 'May your name be inscribed for a good year.' The 'inscribing' refers to the Book of Life, which according to Jewish tradition, closes ten days later.
"We Jews for Jesus know that our names have been forever inscribed in the Lamb's Book of Life, written indelibly in his own blood. Nevertheless, we choose to look back and reflect and commemorate the closing of a year and the beginning of the next. We take part in traditions such as eating apples and honey for a 'sweet new year.'
"But while some Jews believe in an annual day of accounting for one's actions, for us the blast of the shofar at Rosh Hashanah is not just a call to repentance, but a reminder of Jesus' return. 'For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Messiah will rise first' (1Thessalonians 4:16)."
-- www.jewsforjesus.org
Petronius| 9.9.10 @ 9:55AM
Would that The Almighty smite all sinners upon the Day, there would be few remaining to continue His parlor game on this planet. And my staff and the Membership Committee of Hell are maxed out on overtime as it is. And Ole Scratch has that "no bonus this year" look in his evil eye; again.
I'm not making light of the subject with effrontery.
But with the rise of the house of Clinton, et. al. we now live in the age of "getting away with it". Indeed, breaking the Commandments and most laws now enhance one's resume'. Public figures are lauded for wearing their horns before the cameras while the virtuous are denigrated as retrograde slugs.
Self examination and confession have been externalized, and are therefor, of little consequence: in this life.
Further reading: lead essay titled Rank Ignorance
in the Spectator of London, 15 July, 2000.
Katherine| 9.9.10 @ 10:28AM
Thank you for this explanation, and may God grant you a sweet year to come.
Margie| 9.9.10 @ 1:16PM
"But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sin year after year. For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, He said, "Sacrifices and offerings thou hast not desired, but a body hast thou prepared for Me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings Thou hast taken no pleasure." Then I said, 'Lo, I have come to do Thy will, O God,' as it is written of Me in the roll of the Book. "When He said above, "Thou hast neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings" (these are offered according to the law), then He added, "Lo, I have come to do thy will." He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God, then to wait until His enemies should be made a stool for His feet. For by a single offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified." Heb. 10:3-14.
TR| 9.9.10 @ 2:50PM
Another great post by Margie.
I am grateful every day for the sacrifice that Christ made for me. I am a sinner, I struggle live up to what God expects of me. I take comfort in the words of Paul, who turned from his evil ways and spent his life in Christ's service, yet still asks why he cannot shed the desire to disobey, why he carries this "dead man" on his back. I take comfort in those writings, knowing that I try and try, but until I meet Jesus, I will never understand what makes us humans tick.
Years ago, my Pastor asked me "do you know what a needlepoint is?" I replied, of course. He said"when you look at a needlepoint, you see a beautiful picture, right?" again, yes. "What do yu see if you turn it over and look?" A tangled confusion of string. "God is weaving the needlepoint, and all you see is the tangled confusion from here. When you meet Him, you will see the amazing work he has done, but in this life you will only see the confusion. We will never understand until we go home to Him."
Wow.
mad libertarian guy | 9.9.10 @ 3:44PM
"It records the beginning of human history . . ."
Seriously? Way to continue the proliferation of the demonstrably false.
litvi| 9.9.10 @ 4:45PM
MLG: take a moment to reflect on the distinction between 'human' and 'hominid.' Were there humanoids before the creation of the Adam? Why not? Think of Adam as the first complete human, instilled with a human soul (neshama) to replace his animal spirit. A 6,000 year timeline and 50-70,000 archeological record don't have to be mutually exclusive. I'm convinced Science and Scripture are complimentary, not conflicting. Have a look at Gerald Schroeder's work for more.
Tenn Slim| 9.9.10 @ 3:59PM
Opine
Christians also have to reckon with thier Day of Atonement. Face to face, with G.D.
We are all humans, we all face eternity, some with thier heads up, some with their heads downcast.
I cherish each day above ground.
end
Semper Fi
mzk1| 9.12.10 @ 8:34AM
Actually, either date can be fit ito the prayers.
Regarding all of the rest of you who say one cannot live under the law (most of which, by the way, is not applicable to Gentiles in any case), God sure seems to have gone to a lot of trouble to give it and enforce it. See also the end of Deuteronomy (before the song) and the repentance parts of Ezekiel.
And the bit about blood being necessary for atonement is demonstratably false. See, for example, Lev. 5 for starters.
Joanna | 6.6.11 @ 5:50AM
I agree with most of these comments too.
UTI Treatment
Adult toys | 7.4.11 @ 3:38AM
To me, it's the least important thing in the world to be "politically correct".l like the space.support.
thank you.