By ימים נוראים “solemn days,” we understand the first ten days of the
month Tishri, especially their beginning and their end: ראש השנה,
“New-year,” and יום כפור “the Day of Atonement.” [129]
It is customary to prepare for the “solemn days” during the month of
Elul, by additional prayers, called סליחות “forgiveness,” after or
before the Daily Service, and by blowing the shofar at the close of the
Daily Service. [130] According to the Portuguese Ritual, the Selichoth
begin on the 1st of Elul, and are continued morning and evening till
the Day of Atonement. The German Ritual has Selichoth only in the
Morning Service; they begin on the Sunday before New-year, and if the
Festival is on Monday or Tuesday, on the second Sunday before, and end
on the Day of Atonement. The blowing of the shofar takes place in the
German Synagogues during the month of Elul, in the Portuguese this
custom is not practiced.
ראש השנה NEW-YEAR.
The first and the second days of Tishri are kept as New-year. [131] In
accordance with the command, “The first of the first-fruits of thy land
thou shalt bring unto the house of the Lord thy God” (Exod. xxxiv. 26),
we devote the first ten days of the year as an offering to the Lord;
they are days of increased devotion, earnest self-examination, and new
efforts to lead a good, virtuous, and godly life. They are called עשרת
ימי תשובה “ten days of return” to God, or “ten penitential days.”
We greet and congratulate each other on New-year, using the phrase,
לשנה טובה תכתב—or לש׳ ט׳ תכחבי, תכתבו, תכתבנה according as a male,
a female, several males, or several females are addressed—“May you be
inscribed for a happy year.” It is a figurative expression, borrowed
from the writing and signing of decrees by earthly judges.
In the Bible the Festival is not called New-year, [132] but יום תרועה
“Day of blowing the shofar” (Num. xxix. 1); and זכרון תרועה “Memorial
of the blowing of the shofar” (Lev. xxiii. 24); in our prayers the
names יום הזכרון and יום הדין “Day of Remembering” and “Day of
Judgment,” are also used.
The first of these four names implies, according to the traditional
interpretation, the commandment of blowing the shofar. As a rule the
shofar is blown during the Morning Service before the sefer is returned
to the Ark, and during Musaf. [133] The blowing of the shofar is
expressed by תרועה, which denotes the sound of an alarm; hence we
learn that the shofar is intended to awaken us, and to call us forth to
range ourselves under our banner. It is an ideal banner, the worship of
God and faith in Him, that we are called upon to protect and to defend
from enemies without and within. [134] Prominence is therefore given in
our Service for New-year to the proclamation of God as King of the
universe, and to our longing for the time when all mankind will unite
in the worship of the One God.
The name “Memorial of blowing the shofar” indicates that we are to
remember some historical event suggested by the sound of the shofar. We
are reminded of the period when the Israelites, encamped round Mount
Sinai, on hearing the Divine message, “Ye shall be my peculiar people,”
“a kingdom of priests,” and “a holy nation,” joyfully replied, “All
that the Lord hath spoken we will do” (Exod. xix. 8). The shofar thus
awakens us to greater watchfulness and activity in the purification and
sanctification of our heart.
The third name, “Day of Memorial,” seems to be a modification of the
second; but it has a more general meaning. The second name, that
reminds us of our duty as God’s peculiar people, suggests also the idea
that God, who declared us to be His people, watches over us; that what
we do, we do in His presence. He perceives, notes, and remembers all
our deeds, words, and thoughts. When, therefore, we appeal to the
goodness of Him, who remembers all His creatures and provides for the
wants of every one of them, we must not forget that He is also just.
This idea, again, suggests the fourth name, יום הדין “Day of
Judgment,” the day on which we are judged according to our deeds, both
our merits and our shortcomings being taken into account.
The essential elements in our Service are the three sections in the
Amidah of Musaf: מלכיות, זכרונות and שופרות. They chiefly refer
to the three fundamental principles of our religion: (1) Existence of
God, a Being that is King of the universe; (2) Divine Justice, and (3)
Revelation. Ten passages are quoted from the Bible in support of each
of these principles.
Tradition has fixed the 1st of Tishri as the date of several events in
the history of Israel, e.g., the birth of Isaac, the binding of Isaac
(עקדה), and the birth of Samuel (B. T. Rosh ha-shanah 10b). Hence
Gen. xxi. and xxii. are read on the two days of New-year, in addition
to the paragraph on the sacrifices of the Festival (Num. xxix. 1–6).
From the Prophets, we read on the first day 1 Sam. i. 1 to ii. 10, on
the birth of Samuel, and the prayer of Hannah praising the justice of
God; on the second day, Jer. xxxi. 2–20, a prophecy concerning the
restoration of Israel. [135]
The Sabbath between New-year and the Day of Atonement is called שבת
שובה because the haphtarah, taken from Hosea (xiv. 1 seq.), commences
with the word שובה and is an exhortation of Israel to return to God.
יום כפור “DAY OF ATONEMENT.”
The tenth day of the seventh month, Tishri, is the most important of
all the Holy-days. It is the Day of Atonement, on which “God will
forgive you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins
before the Lord” (Lev. xvi. 30).
“Ye shall do no manner of work; it shall be a statute for ever
throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be unto you
a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict yourselves: in the ninth day of
the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your
sabbath” (Lev. xxiii. 31, 32).
The Day of Atonement is therefore a day of resting, fasting, prayer,
and spiritual improvement.
It is a day of rest, and the prohibition of work is the same as on the
ordinary Sabbath.
The fasting begins the 9th of Tishri—ערב יום כפור—about sunset, and
lasts till the beginning of night on the following day. The phrase,
ועניתם את נפשתיכם “Ye shall afflict yourselves,” is explained by
Tradition to signify the total abstinence from all kinds of food and
the gratification of other bodily desires (Mishnah, Yoma viii. 1). The
reason of this commandment may be the following: The principal source
of sin is the gratification of our bodily appetites; תשובה “return”
to the right way must therefore include the earnest attempt to control,
and when necessary to suppress, such appetites. Fasting is such an
attempt. But it must be borne in mind that fasting is only one of the
duties we have to fulfil on the Day of Atonement, and that the other
duties are equally essential.
תשובה “return,” is the principal object of the celebration of the Day
of Atonement; it implies the following four steps:—
1. Consciousness of sin, ידיעת החטא. We must again and again examine
ourselves and try to discover our failings; our actions and our words
must pass in review, and we must remember that, however good we may be,
no man is righteous upon earth “that doeth good and sinneth not”
(Eccles. vii. 20).
2. Confession of sin, ודוי. [136] On the discovery of sin, we must
have the courage to confess our guilt before him against whom we have
sinned; if it is against God alone that we have sinned, we make silent
confession before Him; if we find ourselves guilty of an offence
against our fellow-man, we must confess our sin to him.
3. Regret, חרטה. Having discovered and confessed our sin, we should
feel pain and remorse, alike for the evil we have done and for the good
we have left undone.
4. Amendment, עזיבת החטא. The regret should be followed by a firm
resolve to abandon the way of evil, and not to sin again, even if
occasion be given for a repetition of the sinful act.
There are five Services on the Day of Atonement:
(1) Evening Service, מעריב; [137] (2) Morning Service, שחרית; (3)
Additional Service, מוסף; (4) Afternoon Service, מנחה; (5)
Concluding Service, נעילה. [138]—The confession of sin, ודוי is the
most essential and characteristic element in the Services of the Day of
Atonement.
In the Morning Service we read Lev. xvi., and Num. xxix. 7–11, on the
sacrifices on the Day of Atonement; in the Afternoon Service, Lev.
xviii., on forbidden marriages. The Lessons from the Prophets are: in
the morning, Isa. lvii. 14–lviii. 14, on our duties on the fast-day; in
the afternoon, the Book of Jonah, illustrating the effect of sincere
repentance, and Micah vii. 18–20, on Israel’s repentance.