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Not the long, spirally kind that Ash•kᵊnazꞋim call Yemenite) |
תּוֹרָה (Shᵊm•otꞋ 12.1-2) explicitly stipulated that the New Year begins in First-month – Babylonian name: Ni•sanꞋ, which is the month in which PësꞋakh falls, in the spring of the year.
According to Ta•lᵊmudꞋ, יוֹם תְּרוּעָה is a day when all mankind is to be adjudicated by the heavenly Beit Din according to mi•shᵊpâtꞋ (Ma•sëk′ët Rosh ha-Shân•âh′ 1.2).
Tei•mân•iꞋ liturgy (in the Tei•mân•iꞋ si•durꞋ) has it right. (In fact, most of the Orthodox liturgy has it right.) But popular "tradition," imposed by the harsh "tithing on top of tithing" of crops by the Hellenist Tzᵊdoq•imꞋ of their Hellenized "Temple" (the corrupted Beit ha-Mi•qᵊdâshꞋ) after B.C.E. 175, perverted the primary theme of the transcendent spirituality of יוֹם תְּרוּעָה to a this-worldly, hollow shell: Rosh ha-Shân•âhꞋ – the agricultural year according to the deadline for payment of the tithes! Money – strictly worldly, the diametric opposite of the spiritual orientation of יוֹם תְּרוּעָה!
It is well established that Ma•a•sᵊr•otꞋ are not to be associated with שַׁבָּת or khag.
When Yi•sᵊrâ•eilꞋ left Egypt in the Yᵊtzi•âhꞋ, Mosh•ëhꞋ deliberately, methodically, aggressively and intensively weaned Yi•sᵊrâ•eilꞋ from Egyptian idols and mythology. The case against idolatry is one of the most central and passionate themes in the Bible.
One of the central pillars of the case against Egyptian idolatry particularly was the calendar. The Egyptian calendar oriented around the annual heliacal rising (representing rebirth to Egyptians) and setting (representing darkness and death to Egyptians) of what English speakers today know as the "Dog Star", Sirius. Accordingly, the Egyptian astral year began with their "rebirth," the heliacal rising of Sirius.
In ancient Egypt, this [heliacal rising of the Egyptians
IsisorHorusstar] occurred on 06.25, the Egyptian New Year. (Today, the heliacal rising of Sirius occurs on 07.03.).
roughly corresponding with today's "Jewish," non-Biblical "Rosh ha-Shân•âh′" (merely adjusted to coincide with the beginning of a lunar month instead of the heliacal rising of the Egyptians 'Isis or Horus Star') approximating the idolatrous Egyptian astral New Year.
However, immediately following the Yᵊtzi•âhꞋ, Mosh•ëhꞋ fixed the תּוֹרָה New Year
On the lunar calendar lᵊ-ha•vᵊdilꞋ from the astral calendar of the Egyptians, and
In the spring, 2 weeks before PësꞋakh – as near 180° lᵊ-ha•vᵊdilꞋ from the Egyptian astral calendar anchored on the 'Isis or Horus Star' ('Dog Star') as the lunar calendar permitted.
– reverting to exactly 180° out of phase with the תּוֹרָה New Year back to the idolatrous Egyptian "New Year" and based on the theme of a year that revolves around agricultural taxes harshly gouged by the Hellenist Sadducean, genealogically unqualified, Temple priests that the Dead Sea Scrolls called "Wicked Priests"!!!
Reform is too kind of a word to describe this horrendous apostasy. Restore Yōm Tᵊru•âhꞋ unsullied by lᵊ-ha•vᵊdilꞋ "Rosh ha-Shân•âh′" or "New Year".
Confidence in י--ה's provision of כִּפּוּר for all sho•meir′-Tor•âh′ Jews (and geir•im′) is expressed when it is said:
'It is the custom of men who appear before a Beit Din to wear black clothes, to let their beards grow long because the outcome is uncertain. But Israel doesn't do so. On the day of adjudication of mi•shᵊpâtꞋ (יוֹם תְּרוּעָה), they wear white garments and have their beards trimmed and they eat, drink, and rejoice in the conviction that י--ה will perform miracles for them" (Tal•mud′ Yәrushal•mi′, Ma•sëk′ët Rosh ha-Shân•âh′ 1.3, 57b).
The theme of Ël•oh•im′ as Mël′ëkh is particularly stressed on יוֹם תְּרוּעָה because of the day's association with His adjudication of mi•shᵊpâtꞋ. ("Rosh ha-Shanah," EJ, 14.307).
When יוֹם תְּרוּעָה falls on Shab•ât′, remember that the more important observance is Shab•ât′. Therefore, the greeting for Shab•ât′ (Shab•ât′ shâ•lom′) precedes the greeting (below) for יוֹם תְּרוּעָה.
In an over-reaction to Christianity, rabbinic tradition (even the Tei•mân•iꞋ greeting) distorted the original Biblical mi•tzᵊwâhꞋ of יוֹם תְּרוּעָה and its central themes of Majestic Messianic Kingship and tᵊshuv•âhꞋ (still maintained in the liturgy), displacing the Biblical day with today's rabbinic "Happy New Year" (l'shanah tovah) theme. To restore—make tᵊshuv•âhꞋ to—the original, Biblical theme, I propose the following, Biblically founded, greeting for the days leading up to יוֹם תְּרוּעָה:
לְיוֹם תְּרוּעָה שֶׁל מַּלְכֻיּוֹת, זִכְרוֹנוֹת, שׁוֹפָרוֹת וּתְשׁוּבָה שְׁלֵמָה
It is no coincidence that Seventh-month is associated with the "סֵּפֶר חַיִּים," which in early times was synonymous with the יוּחֲסִין. In B.C.E. 434 (see our Calendar page), from the 26th through the end of seventh-month was the period during which the יוּחֲסִין were verified and documented for the previous year, and which stood until the next verification and documentation during the same period the next year (Nәkhëm•yâh′ 6.15; 7.64, 73). For example, Kohan•im′ who were not registered in the יוּחֲסִין as a descendent of A ha•ron′—and claimants to be a Bën-Dâ•wid′ who were not registered in the יוּחֲסִין as a descendent of Dâ•wid′ ha-•Mël′ëkh—were declared forever invalid during this period each year.
However, inscription in this "Tree of Life" was a one-time event. Once a person was inscribed at birth (or geir•imꞋ upon their embrace of Tor•âhꞋ), that was permanent unless the person was excised from Yi•sᵊr•â•eilꞋ by kâ•reitꞋ. Citizenship or identity of Israelis was never "reconsidered" each year.
The Halâkh•âh′ for the יוּחֲסִין is defined in Tal•mud′, "R. Yokhâ•nân′… holds with R. Yitz•khâq′, who said:
"שְׁמִשׁפָּחָה שְׁנִטְמְעָה נִטְמְעָה" (Ma•sëk′ët Qidush•in′ 71a).
In other words, a Judaic genealogy, once uncertain, is forever after uncertain until Eil•i•yâh′u ha-Nâ•vi′ (Tal•mud′ continues) comes to set it straight. Thus, when the Romans destroyed all of the יוּחֲסִין, including all of the Davidic genealogies, there can be no legitimate or halakhically valid יוּחֲסִין for Beit Dâ•wid′ (or Kohan•im′ or any other Jew) until Eil•i•yâh′u ha-Nâ•vi′ comes to set it straight. By the time of the destruction of the Beit ha-Miq•dâsh′ ha-Shein•i′, "Davidic descendants were not traceable" ("Messiah," EJ, 11:1410.).
The name Rosh ha-Shân•âh′ as it is used in Ta•na"kh′ (Yәkhëz•qeil′ 40.1) refers strictly to the beginning of the year—First-month, not any festival.
Even if the Talmudic argument that the "twenty-fifth year of our gâl•ut′ " was a Yo•veil′ (Ma•sëk′ët Arâkh•in′ 12a), the laws of Yo•veil′ taking effect on יוֹם הַכִּפֻּוּרִים, making יוֹם הַכִּפֻּוּרִים the beginning of the Yo•veil′, doesn't change the Biblically-defined beginning of the (earthly) year from First-month 1 to יוֹם הַכִּפֻּוּרִים on Seventh-month 10.
Like the days of the week (First-day, Second-day, … Sixth-day and Shab•ât′), the months of the year were designated in Ta•na"kh′ not by any names of gods (!); but, rather, by their number as counted from "First-month," the month in which the Pës′akh Sei′dër is celebrated, in the spring (Shәm•ot′ 12.2). And, again like the days of the week, they weren't named until the Babylonian captivity, when they were designated by assimilated, Babylonian, names.
The month in which יוֹם תְּרוּעָה falls is Biblically defined as Seventh-month; not First-month!
Ta•na"kh′ refers to this Khag, on the 1st of Seventh-month as יוֹם תְּרוּעָה in bƏ-Mi•dƏbar′ 29.1-6; wa-Yi•qәr•â′ 23.23-25.
In Tor•âh′ shë-bikh•tâv′, the Khag lasted for only one day. The two-day Khag arose out of the difficulty of communicating the proper day of Rosh Kho′dësh. (This is the same reason that Rosh Kho′dësh is sometimes two days.) The confusion was deliberate. The notification issued from Yәrushâ•la′yim to the Gâl•ut′ by means of lighting bonfires on hilltops. The Samaritans, disagreeing on which was the proper day, lit bonfires on hilltops on the nights they determined was Rosh Kho′dësh. Since it was impossible for Jews in the distant villages to distinguish one bonfire from the other, it became necessary to observe both disputed days in order to be sure they satisfied the mitz•wâh′ by observing the day declared by the Beit Din hâ-Jâ•dol′.
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Not the long, spirally kind that Ash•kᵊnazꞋim call Yemenite) |
Contrary to misconceptions in other parts of the Jewish community, R. Qâpakh noted that his grandfather "was adamantly against" the long, spiraled sho•phâr′. The ram's horn was dictated by Ha•lâkh•âh′.
EJ elucidates ("Shofar," 14.1446) that the "traditional" reason that other Orthodox Jews don't trumpet the שׁוֹפָר when יוֹם תְּרוּעָה falls on Shab•ât′ is "lest he carry it… from one domain to another" in violation of Shab•ât′ (see Ma•sëk′ët Rosh ha-Shân•âh′ 29b). Where there is an ei•ruv′, as was the case in ancient Yәrushâ•la′yim, carrying does not violate any domain. Of course, even where there is no ei•ruv′, there is no reason that the שׁוֹפָר cannot be brought to the Beit ha-kәnës′ët before Shab•ât′!!! Therefore, the prohibition of carrying a שׁוֹפָר on Shab•ât′ could not have violated this prohibition in Yәrushâ•la′yim.
When we read, therefore, that when the Beit ha-Miq•dâsh′ was in existence the שׁוֹפָר was trumpeted on יוֹם תְּרוּעָה, even when it fell on Shab•ât′, it is clear that the prohibition against sounding it elsewhere in Yәrushâ•la′yim on Shab•ât′ could only derive from the period between 70 C.E. until 135 C.E. when Jews were expelled from Yәrushâ•la′yim and the question became moot. Therefore, the practice of deferring the trumpeting of the שׁוֹפָר on Shab•ât′ to the second day depended both upon [1] a period subsequent to the destruction of the Beit ha-Miq•dâsh′ when public domain was forcibly introduced into Yәrushâ•la′yim by Roman occupiers and [2] the observance of a second day—both of which imply gâl•ut′ practice. This practice, then, was introduced from the gâl•ut′ back into Israel in the modern era; and does not comport with original Biblical Judaism.
The advent of astronomical precision in intercalating the calendar, making signal fires obsolete, constructively made the observance of a second day thereafter an addition to Tor•âh′, prohibited by Dәvâr•im′ 13.1, et al. Therefore, deferring the trumpeting of the שׁוֹפָר to a "second day" transgresses Tor•âh′ and failure to trumpet the שׁוֹפָר on יוֹם תְּרוּעָה transgresses Tor•âh′. For these reasons, when יוֹם תְּרוּעָה falls on Shab•ât′, when we get home from Beit ha-kәnës′ët, I pray the bәrâkh•âh′ and trumpet the שׁוֹפָר at home.
Interestingly, תְּרוּעָה is from the hiph•il′, הֵרִיעַ, from the shor′ësh רוע.
Though no linguistic relationship can be demonstrated, similarity to the verb רָעָה suggests that the shouting associated with הֵרִיעַ may have derived from the shouting associated with רָעָה, shepherding a flock or herd. This would further suggest that, in addition to the three basic alert blasts, the trumpeting of the שׁוֹפָר on יוֹם תְּרוּעָה can also suggest the connotation of the shepherding call(s) by a shepherd to his flock.
רָעָה also has a second connotation of associating or keeping company with; i.e. befriending, denominated from רֵעַ, which is also remarkably similar both linguistically and thematically: a fellow-member of the same flock and under the same רוֹעֶה.
וַי--ה, פָּקַד אֶת-שָׂרָה כַּאֲשֶׁר אָמָר; וַיַּעַש י--ה, לְשָׂרָה כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֵּר:
The birth of Rib′i Yәho•shu′a (and all other Jewish children) was probably originally described in identical, or near identical, Hebrew terms: פָּקַד Mir•yâm′…
For Christians to be consistent, then, requires that they either consider the the birth of Rib′i Yәho•shu′a no more miraculous—or divine—than Yitz•khâq′ Âv•i′nu or the reverse: that the birth of Yitz•khâq′ Âv•i′nu was as miraculous, and Yitz•khâq′ Âv•i′nu therefore as divine, as the birth of Rib′i Yәho•shu′a. The concept of a man-god of miraculous birth, conceived by a god's mating with a human woman, is then easily proven (by Dead Sea Scroll 4Q MMT) as a cross between Roman gentiles misunderstanding Hebrew and the syncretism—by post-135 C.E. pagan Roman gentile occupiers and their Hellenist Jewish sympathizers (Christians)—of idolatrous concepts entirely alien to first century C.E. Jews and Judaism.
bƏ-Mi•dƏbar′ 29.1 – This mitz•wâh′ commands that one hear the trumpeting of the שׁוֹפָר on יוֹם תְּרוּעָה. This mitz•wâh′ is only fulfilled when one does his or her utmost to hear the שׁוֹפָר trumpeted according to Halâkh•âh′ (i.e., in an Orthodox, preferably Teimân•i′, Beit ha-kәnës′ët or an Orthodox min•yân′).
The praying of מַלכֻיּוֹת-זִכרוֹנוֹת-שׁוֹפָרוֹת verses, 10 in each section (4 from Tor•âh′, 3 from Tәhil•im′ and 3 from the Nәviy•im′), dates back to Mishnaic times (cf. [Ma•sëk′ët Rosh ha-Shân•âh′] 4.5-6) and was, most probably, part of the [tәphil•ot′ prayed] in the [Beit ha-Miq•dâsh′]. (Malkhuyyot, EJ, 11.829).
All three sections are punctuated (in the public praying of the Mu•sâph′ A•mid•âh′) by the trumpeting of the שׁוֹפָר.
מַלכֻיּוֹת, proclaiming י--ה as מֶלֶך and anticipating תִּכּוֹן עוֹלָם (p. קנ"ו in the תִּכּלַאל לְרֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה) and תִּכּוֹן תֵּבֵל (p. קנ"ז)—recognition by those on earth of His Realm. Public praying of the A•mid•âh′ concludes with the trumpeting of the שׁוֹפָר (except on Shab•ât′).
| Shәm•ot′ 15.18 | Dәvâr•im′ 33.5 | Tәhil•im′ 93.1 | Tәhil•im′ 24.7-10 | Ovad•yâh′ 21 |
| bƏ-Mi•dƏbar′ 23.21 | Tәhil•im′ 22.29 | Tәhil•im′ 146.10 | Yәsha•yâh′u 44.6 | Zәkhar•yâh′ 14.9 |
זִכְרוֹנוֹת, remembering the Bᵊrit ("…זוׂכֵר הַבְּרִית") and herald the crowning of the Mâ•shi′ akh of Yi•sәr•â•eil′ —heralded by the trumpeting of the שׁוֹפָר (Yәsha•yâh′ u 18.3; Zәkhar•yâh′ 9.14).
| bә-Reish•it′ 8.1 | wa-Yi•qәr•â′ 26.42 | Tәhil•im′ 111.5 | Tәhil•im′ 106.45 | Yirmәyâh′u 2.2 |
| Shәm•ot′ 2.24 | Tәhil•im′ 111.4 | Tәhil•im′ 105.8 | Yәkhëz•qeil′ 16.60 | Yirmәyâh′u 31.19 |
שׁוֹפָרוֹת ⇒ Yōm ha-Din.
The silence of the Scriptures as to why the שׁוֹפָר is trumpeted on this day left room for a wide variety of interpretations among later teachers. There are ten frequently quoted reasons, which scholars have attributed to Sa•ad•yah Ga•on (882-942 C.E., Mitz•ra′yim & Bâ•vël′; EJ, 308):
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Unlike the Ash•kәnaz′im, the Teimân•im′ don't kneel for the phrase below in the Mu•sâph′ •lei′nu. Further, the si•dur′ Teimân•i′ reflects the most pristine wording on the planet (unembellished by European influence):
".וַאֲנַחְנוּ מִשְׁתַּחֲוִים לִפְנֵי מֶלַךְ מַלְכֵי הַמְּלָכִים בָּרוּךְ הוּא"
By contrast, the Ash•kәnaz′im kneel to pray aloud their following version:
".וַאֲנַחְנוּ כֹּרְעִים וּמִשְׁתַּחֲוִים וּמוֹדִים לִפְנֵי מֶלַךְ מַלְכֵי הַמְּלָכִים, הַקָּדוֹשׁ, בָּרוּךְ הוּא"
| Ta•na"kh′ | Translation | Mid•râsh′ Rib′i Yәho•shu′a: NHM |
NHM |
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(Updated 2010.09.12 according to R' Qâpakh, z''l)
Before the ër′ëv meal on the first night of [Yōm Tәru•âh′] they used to serve the foods listed below, some or all of them, to add with each a special tәphil•âh′ for the special themes of the day. Each begins with "יְהִי רָצוֹן" and these are, with their respective tәphil•âh′:
רוּביָא – יְהִי רָצוֹן שֶׁיִרבּוּ זְכוּיוֹתֵינוּ
סִלְקָא – יְהִי רָצוֹן שֶׁיִסְתַּלְּקוּ אוׁיְבֵינוּ ושׂוֹנֵאינוּ
תְּמָרִים – יְהִי רָצוֹן שֶׁיִתַּמּוּ עֲווֹנוֹתֵינוּ
קָרָא – יְהִי רָצוֹן שֶׁיִקְרַע גְּזַר דִינֵינוּ
רִמּוֹן – יְהִי רָצוֹן שֶׁנִרבָּה כַּרִמּוֹן
גֶּזֶר – יְהִי רָצוֹן יִגְזְרוּ אוׁיְבֵינוּ ושׂוֹנֵאינוּ
Su•lam′ Ya•a•qov′, discussed in a recent issue of the Nәtzâr•im′ Newsletter (archived under "Sulam" in topics section of Nәtzâr•im′ Judaica Shoppe), is also a theme of this day. Some make khal•ot′ in the shape of a ladder.
The kittel (European and Yiddish, not Hebrew or Middle Eastern), touted as the white robe worn by Jews on the High Holidays, turns out to be exclusively an Ash•kәnaz′i tradition. In the Teimân•i′ tradition, men wear white shirts as they do every Shab•ât′.
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