Guest Blog by Rabba Dr. Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz
Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, starts in the evening of 6 September this year, and lasts till the evening of 8 September. It ushers in the Ten ‘Days of Awe’, which continue until the end of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, and constitute the high point of the Jewish year. They are a time of reflection, of soul-searching, and repentance, when even the least observant Jews try to get to synagogue for part of the long, elaborate services with their evocative music and solemn atmosphere.
Rosh Hashanah itself marks ‘the birthday of the world’, the anniversary of Creation (whether understood literally or metaphorically), and is thus a universal festival that celebrates God’s absolute sovereignty and power. The liturgy for the day speaks of God as Monarch, and imagines the Jewish people standing in the heavenly court, paying homage to God and enacting a ‘coronation’, with our prayers serving as a crown. Though the services are lengthy and intricate (a traditional Rosh Hashanah morning service can take five hours!), the magnificence of the mediaeval poem-prayers and the special melodies that are only sung at this time of year combine to create a sense of awe and solemn celebration, culminating in the piercing call of the shofar, the ram’s horn that is blown as part of the service. Its raucous shriek summons us to repentance, to consciousness of the urgency of the day, and simultaneously recalls Abraham’s near-sacrifice of Isaac, cancelled at the last moment by God’s mercy, and replaced by a ram.
At the other end of the Days of Awe stands Yom Kippur. Though closely linked to Rosh Hashanah, it is also its exact opposite: where Rosh Hashanah is universal and combines solemn joy and awe, Yom Kippur is intensely individual: each person stands alone in front of God, and tries to repair their relationship with the divine, conscious of their failings. Where Rosh Hashanah includes festive meals, starting off with apples and honey to express our wishes for a sweet new year, Yom Kippur is a 25-hour fast, freeing us to focus on the most intense and important aspects of our lives. Together, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur mark the twin poles of our spiritual lives—God and our individual souls—tying them together in love, majesty, and intimacy.
With thanks to CCJ – https://ccj.org.uk/blog/RoshHashanah