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The history of Rosh Hashanah began in ancient Hebrew times. In autumn it welcomed in the new economic year. The seasons of seed-sowing and growth and the ripening of grain followed. Great agricultural festivals followed in order each year, like the “feast of unleavened bread,” and the “feast of harvest.”
The earliest of these celebrations was mentioned in Ezekiel, telling of the day it took place and that the blowing of trumpets proclaimed it. Sacrifices were offered, and there was a holy convocation. No work was to be done on certain holy days.
The name Rosh Hashahan is Herbrew and means “head of the year.” It is celebrated as the Jewish New Year. It takes place ten days before Yom Kippur, and is on the first two days of the seventh month, Tishrei, in the Hebrew calendar. The Torah describes the day as the “remembrance of the blowing of the horn.”
Rosh Hashanah is only one of four observances for the new year. The other “legal years” are observed for different reasons. This new year is for legal contract, and animals, as well as for people. It is for calculating the calendars and it represents the creation of the Universe. The Talmud, however, views it as the creation of man, and five days earlier the Universe was created.
The first reference known in history as Rosh Hashanah being the day of judgment was in Judaism’s Mishnah, the oral Torah. The books in the Talmud state the recordings of the fate of wicked, righteous people, as well as those of the intermediate class. It is believed, in some descriptions, that God sits upon a throne, while the books of the deeds of humanity are reviewed, as people pass in front of Him for his evaluation.
The observance takes place as a day of rest. Because of the difficulty in determining the exact date of each new moon in ancient times, it is celebrated for two days, beginning at sundown on 29 “Elul” in the Hebrew calendar.
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