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The next holiday in the year is Rash Hashanah, which is New Year. This comes usually in
Tishri, or September. The strange thing about this New Year is that April, the month of Nisan or
Abib is the first Biblical month of the year, that is, the first recorded month of creation. Its name
really means Spring. Though this is the Biblical beginning of the Jewish year, the traditional
beginning, that which the rabbis have incorporated into the Talmud, is really the Feast of Trumpets
or the blowing of the rams' horns and trumpets to call the people together for a holy convocation,
which takes place in the seventh month, the month of Tishri. We read about this in the book of
Leviticus. "In the seventh month in the first day of the month shall ye have a Sabbath." The seventh
month is to the year what Saturday is to the week. In the book of Nehemiah 8:1-12, we read that
after Israel had come out of Babylon again they were to observe the New Year very solemnly.
When the people heard the law read, they stood for hours. There was such rejoicing and praising
and shouting that they could be heard for miles. They did not even want to eat. In fact, Ezra had to
tell them to go home and eat. The blowing of the rams' horns reminds them of how Abraham was
willing to give up his son and God provided the ram to take Isaac's place, even as the Lord Jesus
Christ became our ram.
Between Rosh Hashanah and the time of the next holiday, which is Yom Kippur, are ten
awesome days of repentance when men should be searching their hearts. Tradition has it that there
are three books to be opened during this time -- one book in which all the righteous are registered,
the second book in which those who are not wholly righteous or utterly wicked are registered, and
the third in which only the wicked are recorded. Of course, their desire is that their names should
be inscribed in the first book. During the ten days of repentance, they should also be seeking to
make peace with those whom they have wronged throughout the year, with their enemies if they
have any. It is a time when charities are given to the poor, and when long written prayers are
repeated. Often their litany is much like our own praying.
Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement. The elaborate ritual for the Day of Atonement is
observed in the synagogue or temple, as described in Leviticus 16. For this they need a sacrifice
for the sins they have been repenting of for the last ten days. It is a very solemn day. The real
orthodox Jews walk to their synagogue, no matter how far away they live. They will not ride in a
conveyance, neither will they allow themselves any luxuries during this Yom Kippur (twenty-four
hours). From one sundown to the next sundown, Jews the world over, male and female, young and
old, fast and seek atonement or forgiveness for all their sins. In Old Testament times, they made
preparation for this. They offered a sacrifice. Among the real orthodox Jews today a chicken is
offered, but God never said that a chicken would atone for sin. Neither did the blood of bullocks
and goats, for that matter, so Isaiah tells us. Even if the Jews were to bring an offering today, there
is no place for it to be offered, no brazen altar, no holy of holies. Their temple has been destroyed.
In the evening after the twenty-four-hour fast, the cantor begins the most solemn prayer in the Yom
Kippur devotions. This is known as the Kol Nidre, or all vows to God. He repeats their vows,
their oaths, their devotions, their promises, their penalties, their obligations, everything they have
sworn to God.
At the close of the Yom Kippur solemnities, they repeat a beautiful prayer, which is almost
along the same plaintive, wistful lines as Isaiah 53. This is the prayer: "Our righteous Messiah has
departed from us. We are horror-stricken and have none to justify us. Our iniquities and the yoke of