The Days of Awe
The first Biblical holiday of the year is the first of Tishri, Rosh Hashanah. For thousands of years Jews throughout the world have greeted each other with" Shana B'Tovah" as wishes are expressed that all may be inscribed in the Book of Life for a happy, healthy, prosperous and "sweet new year". It is a holiday that is both joyous and weighty as it is also referred to as the Day of Judgment, 'Yom Hadin', when God judges each of us for our actions of the past year and opens the Book of Life and decides the fate of each person for the year to come. The rabbis describe us as being sheep herded through a small gate to be counted one by one (Talmud Tractate Rosh Hashanah 18a, Netane Tokef prayer). In the Netane Tokef prayer is the phrase "kee hu nora v'ayom - for it is awesome and frightening". It is said that the angels tremble when the Book is opened. We stand in front of our Creator this day and come face to face with ourselves. Rosh Hashanah marks the beginnings of the Days of Awe, the High Holy Days. The Gates of Heaven are said to be opened on this day so that all may have an opportunity to repent and turn to God. At the end of the High Holy days, on Yom Kippur, the gates are closed and fates are sealed for the year to come. Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement and the holiest day of the year.

The King
On Rosh Hashanah we remember "Malchut" - God's kingship. According to the Jewish Commentaries there are two types of kings. A "moshel," or ruler, is a tyrant ruling his subjects by forcing their allegiance. A 'melech" is a king, made so by subjects voluntarily accepting the king's authority upon themselves and reaching its highest form when subjects choose and subject themselves to the king out of love. God may thus rule over all creation no matter what, but he can only achieve this high form of kingship if his subjects choose him and do so out of their love. For God, only Man can do this. Angels already see God clearly as the only reality because of the way in which they are created and where they exist. Their nature is also more mechanical and their amount of will is limited. The ultimate goal for mankind, the fulfillment of our existence and reason for living is to make God a melech. Mankind, complete with his evil inclinations and his ability to reject God is unique for this role exactly because of this freewill. God desires for Man to accept him as king both willingly and lovingly. When we do so, we sanctify His Name. A 19th century teacher of Jewish ethics, Rabbi Yisrael Salanter said it thus: "While we are proclaiming Hashem as king over the entire world, let us not forget to make Him a king over ourselves as well."

New Year
Why is Rosh Hashanah the first day of the year? Well, one of the chief reasons is that tradition states that it was on this day that Adam and Eve were created and the holiday celebrates the birth of mankind. All species of life on this earth were created in plural. The Bible tells us that plant life and animals were brought forth from the earth. Mankind, though, was created as one being - Adam. In Tractate Sanhedrin of the Mishnah (basically a compilation of Jewish law and commentary) tells us that we should realize then that all of creation was worthwhile for one person and thus that "for my sake was the entire world created". The Sages of Israel (a catchall term for the great teachers of Judaism throughout the millennia) want us to understand that every person is born for a unique purpose, and when we fulfill our purpose we justify creation and when we don't we cause the destruction of the world. Life is an opportunity and a responsibility. It is said that when a person is born on earth a perfect representation of him and what he can become is formed in Heaven. Our aim in life is to approach that level of achievement envisioned in Heaven. According to tradition (and the story is read on Rosh Hashanah) another special event occurred one Rosh Hashanah when Abraham brought his 37 year old son Isaac as an offering to God on the site where the Temple would eventually be built. As Abraham was about to bring the knife down on his son an angel of the Lord yelled out "Abraham, Abraham." The Midrash (basically a compilation of stories and commentary) comments that it was at this moment, when Abraham completed the final trial of the ten trials of his life, that his earthly self and the Heavenly vision of himself were equal. The angel therefore called his name twice. Abraham had fulfilled his reason for existence. Rosh Hashanah presents an opportunity for us to judge ourselves and to start anew on fulfilling our unique mission in life.

The Shofar
One of the principal traditions of Rosh Hashanah is the blowing of the Shofar, a ram's horn. The ram's horn relates back to this story of Abraham and Isaac when God provided a ram to be the sacrifice in place of Isaac. At the end of the Rosh Hashanah service the rabbi blows the Shofar as commanded by God in the Bible. Interestingly, though it is commanded that the shofar be blown, there is no instruction in the Bible as to how to blow the horn. The Rabbis thus developed ways and these traditions have come down to us for thousands of years. The horn is blown in three basic ways: smooth, broken and then smooth again. One manner of looking at the reasons for the way it is blown is to say that the first tone can be said to represent the original pure condition of man. The second broken tone is representative of the altered, sinful state of man after the fall in the Garden of Eden. The third straight tone represents the repaired state, that which we can experience in the World to Come. This latter state is akin to that which Christians look forward to in the Millennium or in the future days of the New Earth. The sound of the Shofar comes from the breath being blown through the ram's horn. The breath of man is considered to have been given when God breathed into Adam and gave him life. On Rosh Hashanah we return our breath through the shofar back to God. The sound is a plea for mercy; the soul crying out to its Creator. The sound of the shofar is the sound heard by the Children of Israel when they stood at the foot of Mt. Sinai to receive the Torah. It is the sound that will be heard when the Messiah comes (again). It is said in the prayers for this day that it is "Yom teruah - a day of blowing it shall be to you." The word teruah (blowing) is said by the Chozeh of Lublin (a Chassidic leader in the 1700's) to stem from the Hebrew word 'rayoot' meaning friendship. Rosh Hashanah is therefore also a day of friendship, love and peace. As stated in the prayer service this day: "Let us blend into one brotherhood to do Your will with a perfect heart."

Apples and Honey
Rosh Hashanah traditions also include eating apples and honey. The custom of eating apples and honey is first cited in Orach Chayim where it refers to a German tradition of beginning the meal in this way. Honey represents 'sweetness' while the apple reinforces that sweetness. In the Midrash HaZohar (Parashat Pinchas) it says that whenever the phrase "It was that day" (Vayehi Hayom) is used in the Bible it is referring to Rosh Hashanah. In the book of Samuel 14:1 the phrase is used to describe the day that King Saul's son Jonathan miraculously saved Israel from invading Philistines. King Saul had decreed that the entire army fast until the battle was won, but his son Jonathan was not aware of this and in a moment of severe hunger he dipped the end of a stick into some canes of honey he found along the side of a road. We are told that as soon as he ate the honey his 'eyes lit up' again. When Saul discovered that his decree had been broken he pronounced a death penalty on his son. The people of Israel succeeded in getting Saul to reconsider and allow his son to live. According to the Talmud the verses describing the repeal of the sentence are recited as an omen of peace and well being. Dipping an apple into honey thus represents our appeal to God to pardon us for our sins and give us life just like Jonathan was granted life after the death sentence was pronounced upon him.

Hannah
The story of Hannah (Samuel 1 & 2), the mother of the Prophet and Judge Samuel and one of the seven great prophetesses of Israel, is read on the first day of Rosh Hashanah. Hannah was unable to have children and suffered while her husband's other wife, Peninah, gave birth to ten sons. In deep frustration and pain Hannah poured out her heart to God and made a vow that if she was given a son she would dedicate him to God. Her prayer was so strong that many of the laws of prayer in Judaism derive from her words. God granted her request and Samuel was born. Samuel's name stems from the phrase "shaul m'kel - requested of Hashem." Samuel was raised by the High Priest Elie and eventually came to be Judge and the one who anointed both Saul and David as king. Her story is read because it teaches the power of pure heartfelt prayer just laid out to God. Her response, a poem considered to be one of the great poems of the Bible, shows us the proper response when our prayers are answered. In her joy she did not forget that it was God who fulfilled her wishes. Hannah, remembering that God is a strict minister of justice and a merciful father remained strong through her years of frustration and kept an unwavering faith in God. A lesson to all.