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Event
Information:
Rosh
Hashanah literally "head of the
year," is a Jewish holiday commonly
referred to as the "Jewish New
Year." It is observed on the first
day of Tishrei, the seventh month of
the Hebrew calendar. It is ordained
in the Torah as "Zicaron Terua" ("a
memorial with the blowing of
horns"), in Leviticus 23:24. Rosh
Hashanah is the first of the High
Holidays or Yamim Noraim ("Days of
Awe"), or Asseret Yemei Teshuva (Ten
Days of Repentance) which are days
specifically set aside to focus on
repentance that conclude with the
holiday of Yom Kippur.
Rosh
Hashanah is the start of the civil
year in the Hebrew calendar (one of
four "new year" observances that
define various legal "years" for
different purposes as explained in
the Mishnah and Talmud). It is the
new year for people, animals, and
legal contracts. The Mishnah also
sets this day aside as the new year
for calculating calendar years and
sabbatical (shmita) and jubilee (yovel)
years. Jews believe Rosh Hashanah
represents either analogically or
literally the creation of the World,
or Universe. However, according to
one view in the Talmud, that of R.
Eleazar, Rosh Hashanah commemorates
the creation of man, which entails
that five days earlier, the 25 of
Elul, was the first day of creation
of the Universe.
The
Mishnah, the core text of Judaism's
oral Torah, contains the first known
reference to Rosh Hashanah as the
"day of judgment." In the Talmud
tractate on Rosh Hashanah it states
that three books of account are
opened on Rosh Hashanah, wherein the
fate of the wicked, the righteous,
and those of an intermediate class
are recorded. The names of the
righteous are immediately inscribed
in the book of life, and they are
sealed "to live." The middle class
are allowed a respite of ten days,
until Yom Kippur, to repent and
become righteous; the wicked are
"blotted out of the book of the
living.
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