September 16, 2012
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Rosh Ha’Shana!Tonight at sunset, something exciting and spectacular happens. ((Actually, it’s RIGHT NOW in Israel – see the moon thing on my sidebar!)) We begin Rosh Ha’Shana! Rosh Ha’Shana literally means ‘head of the year’ in Hebrew, and it’s called that because this is the day the Lord said would be the start of each year in scripture. Yeah – we don’t obey scripture with our Gregorian calendar, either, ((surprise, surprise)). Messiah said that ‘not one jot or tittle will depart from the Law until heaven and earth pass away’, and the Law is Torah, and since heaven and earth have NOT passed away, today is the start of the New Year for us, as True followers of Messiah Yeshua! WoooooT!!
I realize that this is a foreign concept to a LOT of people. They’ve been raised to do whatever they were told, plugged into the religious system like humankind was plugged into the Matrix in my favorite movie. They are oblivious, unaware… and utterly lost in their false faith and beliefs, so immersed in them that they’d blindly defend them with their lives. But that’s why I post these things – to try to help the Bride to awaken and know the Truth. So please don’t think I’m attacking people – I’m attacking a system of lies that has ensnared millions of people. People who, if they only knew, would cast aside the misconceptions and false doctrines for Truth… and embrace this very special day and feast!
There are seven feasts in Leviticus 23 that we’re commanded to observe ‘for all generations’… and Rosh Ha’Shana is a biggie! Some refer to it as “The Feast of Trumpets”, because Leviticus says this is the day that the trumpet is sounded. Another name Jews use for this feast is “Yom Teruah”, or “The Day of the Awakening Shout”. This is a reference to the shofar, but the ‘awakening’ part lends itself to the raising of the dead to be raptured. This should get us all VERY excited!
There’s also another name this feast goes by “The Feast of the Day No Man Knows”. It’s called that because Rosh Ha’Shana is two days long, because of uncertainties Israel had surrounding the timing of the events this day is to concur with. Messiah gave a BIG clue as to the rapture’s timing in the New Testament when He said “NO MAN KNOWS the day or the hour” of His return. And of course, we don’t – it could be either day or any hour in that time slot! Most chrischuns won’t acknowledge this, because it’s too ‘controversial’ and would make people uncomfortable (wouldn’t want THAT)… but it’s fast becoming accepted knowledge among those coming out of the christchun circles and embracing Truth.
As you know, we celebrated 30 days of Elul before this – a month-long time of preparing for the new year (and possibly the rapture!). That is OVER now… and tonight begins the celebration! We will blow the Shofar three different ways, and have our feast (at the end of the first day), and on Wednesday night we’ll head out when Brian gets home to participate in Taslich. And of course, I will be spending the whole time in prayer/praise, looking to the skies!
We absolutely LOVE this video… have been watching it a LOT!!!
I realized that on my sidebar, I did a fact blog about Rosh Ha’Shana and its history, and a picture blog of our Rosh Ha’Shanas thru the years, but I never shared how things play out. So I thought we might do that today, in case anyone was interested in having a Rosh Ha’Shana feast and didn’t know how to go about it.At sunset the night Rosh Ha’Shana begins, we blow the ‘shofar’. The first year we didn’t have one and used kazoos, the next year we used a recorder, the next year we made paper plate shofars (there are two other ideas here and here), but for the past two years, we’ve gotten a real shofar. We always count down the 30 days of Elul with a paper chain countdown, and on this night, we remove the last link and blow our shofars. We talk about how this is the Yahweh’s New Year, how this is a special time, and we talk about the rapture, reading the verses about what is prophesied to happen and how exciting this feast is.
We go out and purchase and prepare the feast for the evening. We clean up the house and ourselves (with candlelit baths!) and get ready for the big supper. We have fish on Rosh Ha’Shana – it’s a traditional choice, and I don’t buy fancy fish very often, so that’s special. We buy apples and serve it with honey (or caramel), which is symbolic of the hope that the next year will be a sweet one. Carrots are the vegetable, as the Hebrew word for carrot is “increase” – and that is another hope for the next year. Another tradition is to buy a fruit you don’t typically eat (one year we got pomegranate, another it was starfuit.. other ideas are kiwi or papaya. This year I bought something odd called a ‘dinosaur egg plumcot’!). Instead of braided challah, it’s traditional to have a round loaf of bread, the hope of a ‘full’ year (like the full, round moon). You set a globe with a gold crown on it on the table, to symbolize that Yahweh is King of the World. We use our fancy dishes (I use partial fanciness for Shabbat and go ALL out for feasts with our red glass plates) – and the Shabbat candles are set out on the table. And of course you include the wine.
The meal begins with the mother lighting the candles (one for creation – the first life and the other for redemption – the new life in Messiah). My kid’s repeat it with me as we light them – “Creation… and Redemption”. Then the mother and father (still standing) pray – the mother over the food and the feast, the father over the family and the children. Then we break the bread and have communion – remembering Messiah’s sacrifice for us, and the reason we are able to come to the table as His chosen. Then we eat!
The next night is Taslich. Taslich is a simple practice of casting your sins into the depths (Micah 7:19). You simply find a body of water and some stones, and go the the water’s edge and seek Yehovah’s forgiveness for your wrongdoings. Then you cast each stone (representing the sins) into the waters. They are gone – you can no sooner go down to the depths and get that stone back than you can take back the sins Yehovah has forgiven you. The kids love picking out stones, seeing how far they can throw them, and thinking of things they can be forgiven for.
There are congregations that get together and do these things as a group, which would be kewl, but it’s not necessary for a meaningful feast. We have a wonderful time just doing our own celebration as a family. I hope this helps those of you who would like to have one of your own!
Another fun one… my boys like this. ((grins))
Shana Tova (good year)!!TEN DAYS of AWE!!!
Comments (8)
Now those are some awesome videos!!! That first one just makes you feel good! I needed that today! :thumbsup: So cool to hear how you guys celebrate. It’s weird, because last time we went food shopping I picked up apples, honey, and caramel dip! Aaaand my youngest two kiddo’s have been making paper chains for about a week now. Seeing all those chain’s in that other ‘Livin in a Booth’ video that group put out, looks just like my dining room. LOL Maybe there is something to this New Year stuff just imbedded in our sub conscience!!!! :kewl:
I celebrated by eating a cinnamon raisin bagel while reading your blog!!L’Shana Tova Tikatevu!
PS the second song is the one that has inspiried my son to jump and try to flip off of every thing he sees…
L’Shana Tovah!
I braid my dough like normal (4 strands)’ then coil it into a crown. It’s pretty! And special.
That is a wonderful description of what appears to be a very beautiful & intimate celebration with your family. I had to laugh today at church about something that happened – one of your comments immediately came to mind. Our regular music leader was out – had a substitute that forgot to tell everyone to sit down after the song (I KNOW you are totally rolling your eyes about now lol). So the front 1/2 remained standing not aware that the back 1/2 was sitting down. Everyone was looking around like they were totally LOST! It was hilarious & I laughed b/c I immediately thought of one of your recent comments (or maybe I read it recently in one of your sidebar posts) about how church tells you when to sit, when to stand, when to sing, when to pray. lol
I also want to comment about something you said….how your job is just to supply the information and it’s the job of the Holy Spirit to change hearts (paraphrasing you..hope that’s what you DID say). I’ve been thinking about that – at times like this morning during the sitting/standing incident. And also like when you did the letters to the lady explaining why you still follow the law. I started reading your blog b/c there was definitely things that just didn’t make sense to me (“church stuff”). And your answers make me go & study what the Bible does actually say. Sometimes I agree with you & sometimes I think what you say doesn’t make sense either. So, I am struggling right now with…I hope I can put this into words…everything I am wondering about is all “head knowledge”. I understand what you are saying, but my heart still doesn’t just jump with a KNOWING that it’s true. I have spent a long time in a traditional church setting & perhaps I am resisting change, but if I am…well, I am surely not meaning to. Because I DO want to know the truth and understand how I am REALLY supposed to be living. I guess I am just wondering why still after studying your posts (and others as well) I don’t “FEEL” like the Holy Spirit is telling me to do things differently. I certainly don’t expect you to be able to read my mind or my heart, but would you care to comment on this?
I always enjoy your posts – they are extremely thought provoking. I never understand why some people come here (not so much anymore) and jump all over you just b/c you have a different belief than they do.
@carmenblack1 - Carmen, I highly recommend you go to TorahClass.com (I think that’s the URL) and start with the Genesis classes. It helped me immensely!
L’Shana Tovah!
Oh, the TorahClass lessons are my favorite, too.
I think that the problem is ‘experience’. The church plans an elaborate experience for people, to garner the most reactions it can get. It wants to make you FEEL convicted, to FEEL luvvv, to FEEL warm fuzzies. So when we reach for Yehovah and we don’t get the FEELing… we think we’re on the wrong path.
As an actress and ex-church pianist (three times over), I can tell you that it’s all show and timing. They have just the right music and just the right words at just the right time (for example, invitational)… and they’re just playing on emotion. Yehovah isn’t a God who manipulates people like that, playing with emotion. He’s a God of Truth, of Life, of Justice and goodness. And when we connect to Him, it’s not supposed to be out of a FEELING, it’s out of a yearning for Truth, and a desire of our hearts.
If it’s a head thing, you’re on the right track. Because Truth trumps emotion every time. Emotions change – Truth does not. That’s not to say that there won’t BE emotion, it’s just cursory. And that’s exactly the opposite of what we (coming out of the ‘c’hurch) are used to – we were dealt a heaping helping of Feelings and a smidgen of Truth. So of course when we encounter the opposite, our first reaction is “Wait… this isn’t right, is it? Why isn’t there a four-part harmony going on with this?” And it *IS* different. But it’s real, and that’s what’s more important. :kewl:
Anna – that is an excellent reply. I totally agree with the church/emotional stuff. That’s not what church is suppposed to be for, but it is EXACTLY why we go – to “feel” close to God, to “feel” like we have worshipped, to “feel” like we have done our Sunday morning duty b/c we profess to be Christians.
But if I just use my head & think about what you (or anyone else) is saying, I could go back & forth forever – never settling on any real doctrine or truth. Sometimes it ALL sounds right! I hate to sound like I am hard-headed & not wanting to accept what you say as the truth. I am really struggling with some things right now & I have asked God’s help to help me know what is true – what, if anything, I am misunderstanding. For every verse you show us that “proves your point”, I find another than sounds like it contradicts your belief. Like you said before, the Bible does not contradict itself. I think I will go over to Torah Class.com as fiberaddict suggested and start there. I’m sure I will be back here to pick your brain some more! Thanks for your insight!