Yom Teruah
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Yom Teruah is a holiday on the 1st day of the Seventh month (Tishrei). The Rabbis wrongly call it New Years (Rosh Hashannah) when really it is a Day of Shouting (Teruah) in prayer to God.
On the 1st day of the Seventh month (Tishrei) the Torah commands us to observe a "Day of Shouting" (Lev 23,23-25; Nu 29,1-6) on which work is forbidden. This holiday is widely known today by the Rabbinic misnomer "Rosh Hashannah". The Bible never calls this holiday Rosh Hashanah but instead variously calls it Yom Teruah (Day of Shouting) and Zicharon Teruah (Remembrance Shouting). The Rabbis renamed the holiday Rosh Hashana (New Years) claiming that the Jewish year actually begins in Tishrei. The absurdity of this claim is immediately apparent since the Bible refers to this holiday as falling out in the Seventh month (Tishrei is a later name never used in the Torah). How could New Years fall out in the Seventh month!
The actual beginning of the year is described in Ex 12,2 which states "This month will be for you the beginning of months; It is first of the months of the year". After this explicit statement the Torah proceeds to describe the ceremony of the Passover sacrifice which is to take place in this First month. Similarly, Lev 23 and Nu 28 list the holidays and both passages describe Passover in the First month and Yom Teruah in the Seventh month. Thus there can be no question that the "beginning of months" mentioned in Ex 12,2 refers to the first of Nissan (in which Passover is celebrated) and not to Yom Teruah which takes place in the Seventh month.
The Rabbis claim that later in the Tanach Yom T'ruah is referred to as Rosh Hashanna. Indeed, the expression Rosh Hashannah does appear in Ez 40,1 which reads "In the beginning of the year (Rosh Hashannah) on the tenth of the month". The fact that Ez 40,1 refers to the tenth day of "Rosh Hashannah" makes it clear that the reference here is to the entire First month and not to the first day of the year. Even if Ezekiel is referring to the 1st day of the 1st month there is no justification to say he is referring to anything other than the 1st day of Nissan (First month).
Undoubtedly the Rabbis felt a need to associate Yom Teruah with New Years because they felt uncomfortable that the Bible does not give us a reason for celebrating this holiday as it does for all of the other Biblical holidays (such as the Exodus for Hag Hamatzot and Harvest for Shavuot). However, the true nature of Yom Teru'ah can be adduced from its name. In the Bible "Teruah" means to make a loud noise either by blowing a horn (e.g. Shofar Lev 25,9; Silver Trumpets Nu 10,5-6) or by shouting in prayer (Ps 100,1). The purpose of Yom Teru'ah then was probably to shout to YHWH in prayer similar to the idea commonly expressed in the Psalms such as "Shout unto God with a singing voice!" (Ps 47,2) which uses the same verbal root as "Teruah". The Rabbis claim that this noise making can only be done with a Shofar (ram's horn). There is no Biblical evidence for this assertion and on the contrary as has been shown the word "Teruah" can indicate various methods of noise making from shouting in prayer to blowing on the Silver Trumpets (Nu 10) all of which the Bible describes as acts of worshipping YHWH (see also Psalm 150).
Biblical Verses which mention Yom Teruah:
* Lev 23,23-25 "And YHWH spoke unto Moses saying, Speak to the Children of Israel saying, In the Seventh month on the first of the month will be a day of rest (Shabbaton) for you, a Remembrance Shouting, a holy convocation. You shall do no work and you will bring a fire sacrifice to YHWH."
* Nu 29,1-6 "And in the Seventh month on the first of the month will be a holy convocation for you; you shall do no work, it will be a Day of Shouting for you. [List of Sacrifices for Yom Teruah]."
* Amos 8,4-5 "Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, that make the poor of the land to fail, Saying, When will New Moon Day pass that we may sell our grain, and the Sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying with deceitful balances?"
Yom Teruah is a holiday on the 1st day of the Seventh month (Tishrei). The Rabbis wrongly call it New Years (Rosh Hashannah) when really it is a Day of Shouting (Teruah) in prayer to God.
On the 1st day of the Seventh month (Tishrei) the Torah commands us to observe a "Day of Shouting" (Lev 23,23-25; Nu 29,1-6) on which work is forbidden. This holiday is widely known today by the Rabbinic misnomer "Rosh Hashannah". The Bible never calls this holiday Rosh Hashanah but instead variously calls it Yom Teruah (Day of Shouting) and Zicharon Teruah (Remembrance Shouting). The Rabbis renamed the holiday Rosh Hashana (New Years) claiming that the Jewish year actually begins in Tishrei. The absurdity of this claim is immediately apparent since the Bible refers to this holiday as falling out in the Seventh month (Tishrei is a later name never used in the Torah). How could New Years fall out in the Seventh month!
The actual beginning of the year is described in Ex 12,2 which states "This month will be for you the beginning of months; It is first of the months of the year". After this explicit statement the Torah proceeds to describe the ceremony of the Passover sacrifice which is to take place in this First month. Similarly, Lev 23 and Nu 28 list the holidays and both passages describe Passover in the First month and Yom Teruah in the Seventh month. Thus there can be no question that the "beginning of months" mentioned in Ex 12,2 refers to the first of Nissan (in which Passover is celebrated) and not to Yom Teruah which takes place in the Seventh month.
The Rabbis claim that later in the Tanach Yom T'ruah is referred to as Rosh Hashanna. Indeed, the expression Rosh Hashannah does appear in Ez 40,1 which reads "In the beginning of the year (Rosh Hashannah) on the tenth of the month". The fact that Ez 40,1 refers to the tenth day of "Rosh Hashannah" makes it clear that the reference here is to the entire First month and not to the first day of the year. Even if Ezekiel is referring to the 1st day of the 1st month there is no justification to say he is referring to anything other than the 1st day of Nissan (First month).
Undoubtedly the Rabbis felt a need to associate Yom Teruah with New Years because they felt uncomfortable that the Bible does not give us a reason for celebrating this holiday as it does for all of the other Biblical holidays (such as the Exodus for Hag Hamatzot and Harvest for Shavuot). However, the true nature of Yom Teru'ah can be adduced from its name. In the Bible "Teruah" means to make a loud noise either by blowing a horn (e.g. Shofar Lev 25,9; Silver Trumpets Nu 10,5-6) or by shouting in prayer (Ps 100,1). The purpose of Yom Teru'ah then was probably to shout to YHWH in prayer similar to the idea commonly expressed in the Psalms such as "Shout unto God with a singing voice!" (Ps 47,2) which uses the same verbal root as "Teruah". The Rabbis claim that this noise making can only be done with a Shofar (ram's horn). There is no Biblical evidence for this assertion and on the contrary as has been shown the word "Teruah" can indicate various methods of noise making from shouting in prayer to blowing on the Silver Trumpets (Nu 10) all of which the Bible describes as acts of worshipping YHWH (see also Psalm 150).
Biblical Verses which mention Yom Teruah:
* Lev 23,23-25 "And YHWH spoke unto Moses saying, Speak to the Children of Israel saying, In the Seventh month on the first of the month will be a day of rest (Shabbaton) for you, a Remembrance Shouting, a holy convocation. You shall do no work and you will bring a fire sacrifice to YHWH."
* Nu 29,1-6 "And in the Seventh month on the first of the month will be a holy convocation for you; you shall do no work, it will be a Day of Shouting for you. [List of Sacrifices for Yom Teruah]."
* Amos 8,4-5 "Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, that make the poor of the land to fail, Saying, When will New Moon Day pass that we may sell our grain, and the Sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying with deceitful balances?"
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posted by Bill at 8:16:00 AM
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