Happy Jewish New Year!

 

One of the benefits of being Jewish is that so much of our calendar is dictated to us! Some of the most important dates occur in the month of September, our Fall Festivals.
 
In Leviticus 23:23-44 we read about the details of New Years (Rosh Hashanah), the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) and finally the Festival of Tabernacles (Sukkot). Rosh Hashanah is not the original name for the first Holy Day; that day was actually called in Hebrew, Yom HaTeruah which literally means “the Day of Blowing”. The blowing of a shofar or ram’s horn is central to this celebration as a way of calling people to prepare themselves for the next two Holy Days. This is a time of reflection, when religious Jewish people focus on repenting for sin. The goal is to make amends, repent and do good deeds; to earn spiritual merit so that on Yom Kippur, that great Day of Atonement when Jewish tradition says the Book of Life is opened and everyone’s life is evaluated, G-d might decide that they have earned enough merit for their sins to be forgiven and for their names to be written in the Book of Life for one more year. How much merit is needed and how can one know for sure that they will be forgiven? Sadly, a Jewish person cannot answer these questions with certainty.
 
This lack of assurance is one of the reasons that we should take seriously our personal responsibility to share about our faith in Messiah Yeshua’s atoning sacrifice, for we know our eternal future, and in love and concern we need to share this hope with our Jewish friends and family. Make time this month to mail out Jewish New Years cards. Call your Jewish friend and ask about how they will be celebrating these important Holidays. Most importantly, pray for the salvation of the Jewish people you know and share with them the hope you have of assured forgiveness of sin!

Forward for Messiah,

Kirk Gliebe

Rabbi & Director