Shanah Tovah!
That means “a good year” from the traditional L'shanah tovah tikatevu meaning "May you be inscribed for a good year". This year the 14th and 15th of September are Rosh Hashanah, one of the most important holidays in Judaism. Rosh Hashanah means “head of the year” the Jewish New Year. Today the books of life are open and they will be closed next week on Yom Kippur.
The Torah portion for the second day of Rosh Hashanah is the
traditional story of Abraham and Isaac, the one where Abraham almost sacrifices
Isaac to show his devotion to God. As Jews it is our way to ask questions and
every year we come up with new questions or wrestle with old ones about the
Torah stories. Most Jews do not believe that all the stories in the Torah
happened, the stories we teach provide lessons for us to learn from. The story
itself well told in the same words every year is interpreted differently by
everyone and affected by the events in the world today.
The shofar is actually one of the most important parts of
Rosh Hashanah. If you don’t know what a shofar is, it’s a hollowed out rams
horn that you use as a horn. There are four different blasts:
Tekiah: the "blast," one long blast with a clear tone.
Shevarim: a "broken," sighing sound of three short calls.
Teruah: the "alarm," a rapid series of nine or more very short notes.
Tekiah Gedolah: "the great Tekiah," a single unbroken blast, held as long as possible.
(link to website)
Tekiah: the "blast," one long blast with a clear tone.
Shevarim: a "broken," sighing sound of three short calls.
Teruah: the "alarm," a rapid series of nine or more very short notes.
Tekiah Gedolah: "the great Tekiah," a single unbroken blast, held as long as possible.
(link to website)
I just learned a lot. I go to a laid-back Christian church and the sermon last week was about the "Old Testament" and what we can learn from some of the stories in there. So your piece reminded me of that. I would love to hear more about your personal experience with Rosh Hashanah.
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