Yom Teruah/Rosh HaShanah Basics

This is the fourth in a series of introductory teachings on how to get started on celebrating the Leviticus 23 “Feasts of the Lord” in a sane and enjoyable manner. After all, if there is no enjoyment then what the heck is the point–is God honored by our trudging through the day as though it is a chore? Taking a day off of work and sitting around miserable isn’t honoring God, even if it does make some legalists happy. There are just too many folks doing this “because it is a commandment” but not actually celebrating because (1) they don’t know how, and because (2) Scripture gives almost zero practical guidance (we’re supposed to just know culturally what to do), and (3) because there are a lot of “Feast police” folks out there insisting that you keep them but telling you whatever you do above and beyond what is laid out is pagan. Surprise, surprise–this creates a ton of miserable people who secretly long for Christmas instead because at least they know how to do that and no one was keeping score about how they did it.

I am super tired of people being told “Keep the Feasts or you are a disobedient pagan” only to watch them ask why or even how and have their “helpful” accuser respond, “Read your Bible!” That right there tells me that they have ZERO clue what to do and didn’t even have the knowledge or compassion to be teaching anyone anything in the first place. Condemnation and criticism and nitpicking without guidance is worse than useless, it’s a stumbling block. Don’t be one.

If you can’t be helpful, be quiet instead. It’s less confusing and kinder–and you can spend the time learning what to tell people when they ask you how to do the stuff you tell them they need to be doing. Don’t try to teach algebra if you can’t add or subtract, and don’t change out electrical fixtures while standing in water, just don’t.

Lev 23 ²³ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴ “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation. ²⁵ You shall not do any ordinary work, and you shall present a food offering to the Lord.”

Here are the instructions–

(1) seventh Biblical month, first day–this isn’t July first but the first day of Tishri, the seventh month starting at the beginning of months (not the same as years, which were calculated agriculturally and we will see that when I teach about Yom Kippur), so the seventh month of the festival calendar which began in the spring.
(2) Observe a solemn day of rest
(3) a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets
(4) a holy convocation (meaning a “get-together”)
(5) no ordinary work allowed (meaning your professions or any intensive labor)
(6) present a food offering to the Lord (a specific festival sacrifice to God–obviously impossible now)

(Note: In order to avoid confusion, I always advise new people to either celebrate according to the calculated Rabbinic calendar or to celebrate when their local congregation celebrates. We “kept” first-sliver for years before deciding to celebrate with the Jewish people. It’s a personal choice but all this is terribly confusing to begin with and so I advise simplifying whenever possible)

Anyway, so we have the Feast without a name that occurs on the first day of the seventh Biblical month, which you can find the date of by googling “Rosh HaShanah 2020” or whatever year you are reading this in. If you just did that, you can see it says it starts Friday night, September 18, and ends on Sunday night, September 20. I want you to ignore the two days bit for now, and you might always choose to ignore it, that is traditional outside of the Land of Israel from back in the day when people would not be sure when the sighting of the first sliver of the new moon was in the Land so they kept the Feast for two days and I don’t know of many people who can really afford to take that much time off of work. It’s tradition and there was a reason for it.

Sometimes, especially when people are really attached to one of the names associated with this Feast, they get angry when I point out that it is never specifically given a name like the others. Some folks call it the Feast of Trumpets, or Yom Teruah in Hebrew (meaning Day of Shouting or Blasts), or Rosh HaShanah (Head of the year) and I don’t care very much what your preference is so please don’t send me your arguments–I have heard them all before, believe me. Neither name is wrong or pagan. I am not the Feast police. I care that you celebrate, not about promoting a certain way. It’s just too easy to get hung up on the small stuff or worse, to believe that there is no small stuff. This is for beginners finding their way–not for people who feel as though they are experts wanting everyone to do it their way. Anyway, the Bible calls it a “memorial proclaimed by” but not specifically given a cool moniker. So people have made some up. It’s all cool. Can you imagine talking about it without something to call it? Hey, what are you doing for that memorial festival day thingie where we are supposed to blow trumpets and stuff?

What does this mean? This means that starting at sundown on Friday, September 18 we have what is called a “High Sabbath.” Whereas on a normal weekly Sabbath all work is forbidden, on High Sabbaths you can cook if you want to–unless that day also falls on a normal Sabbath, which it does this year. I just happen to be colossally lazy and I do all my cooking the day before (no matter what) because otherwise, I don’t get a Feast day, I just get another cooking day where I am limited in cleaning up after myself. I will probably spend all day Friday making a brisket (a traditional meal for this day) and a dessert and might make some side dishes. That’s just how I roll. Find what works for you. My friend Matt in Louisiana just cooks nonstop when this holiday falls on a weekday, he loves it.

What about the blast of trumpets?

What we do in my family every year is the Synagogue liturgy for Rosh HaShanah, which involves a lot of praying and praising God for hours and me blowing the shofar (a “trumpet” made from the horn of a kosher animal) one hundred times. If you are planning on doing this, please don’t just order the shofar that week and try blowing it the first time on the Holiday. Unless you are already knowledgable about blowing a trumpet, it’s going to sound like explosive Rhino flatulence and God isn’t particularly going to be honored by that. So practice. This is a worship ceremony, take it seriously if you are going to participate. But it isn’t required. It’s more advanced and I wouldn’t start out my first year or two by going there. Also, when you buy a new one they are sometimes stinky, and I mean offensively stinky, for a long time afterward and you don’t want to gag into the horn. You just don’t.

If you can’t blow the shofar, then you can find a youtube video of someone doing it and play it. Some of the ladies and gents out there have some seriously mad skills. Some of the bigger synagogues–you wouldn’t believe what those guys can do with a ram’s horn. That’s a legitimate way to satisfy this commandment–no one says that everyone has to blow a shofar. You don’t get bonus points for the afterlife. The shofar blower is just one element of the Feast. No one is going to hell for not doing this.

Oh, and we weren’t celebrating when my kids were tiny, but I don’t see anything wrong with using the cardboard tubes that come with paper towel rolls and allowing the kids to use those as horns, or even kazoos, for a before bed and early morning and end of the Feast family worship celebration. It can be done without being disrespectful. Kids can be pretty good about such things when they know it is important. When I have grandkids, hopefully not soon, I plan on doing this. Getting kids involved is so important.

Also, be mindful that some special needs family members, those with autism or PTSD, might find the loud blast of the trumpet alarming. There are always compassionate allowances we must made in such circumstances, and this blog might help with that.

The get-together part is nigh impossible for most Christians who want to celebrate because very few churches observe this commandment (which teaches us important eschatological truths about the future kingship on earth of our Messiah and especially about the season of His return) and a lot of folks just don’t live near any Synagogue, must less a Messianic Synagogue. You can find youtube livestreams to various congregations who participate, so that might work for you. It isn’t optimal, but these commandments were given with the understanding that believers wouldn’t be scattered all over the face of the earth with sometimes no local group who participates. Do your best, and enjoy it!

What about the food? Well, there are some traditional dishes that the kids especially might really enjoy. Whereas Shavuot focuses on dairy dishes traditionally, on this day the traditions include dipping apples in honey, dipping challah bread in honey, pomegranates, and fish heads. I skip the fish heads, but for those who participate, they hold up the fish head and ask that God make them fruitful like the fish. Your kiddos might get a huge kick out of it, and asking for blessings is never a bad idea.

I am not going to go into great detail because the point of this is to give you ideas for a starting point so that you will feel empowered and not overwhelmed. Our Savior kept this feast, and Paul reminded us that all of the Feasts are a foreshadowing of good things to come, the reality and revelation is and will be found in our Messiah beginning with the Passover on which He was slain, and continuing to that Shavuot when the Spirit came down upon the assembled believers at the Temple in Jerusalem. In the future, we will see the fulfillment of the Fall Feasts as well.

If you want more information about academic sort of stuff and some of the controversies folks might try and sidetrack you with, here are some of my other teachings:

Here is a Context for Kids Video about Rosh HaShanah: The Enthronement of our King

and another one about the agricultural calendar that started in the fall Torah Portion Phineas–Did Noah Have a Different Calendar?

Rosh HaShanah, the Gezer Calendar, and the “Higher Criticism” Myth of Akitu Origins

Rosh HaShanah and the Barren Woman 

New Moon/Full Moon? Psalm 81 and its Yom Teruah/Rosh HaShanah Context

And new this last year, a podcast about Rosh HaShannah and some of the controversies.