| In
rabbinic literature
The
Mishnah, the core text of Judaism's oral Torah, contains the first
known reference to the "day of judgment". It says: "Four
times in the year the world is judged: On Passover a decree is passed
on the produce of the soil; on Shavuot, on the fruits of the trees;
on Rosh Hashanah all men pass before Him ("God"); and
on the Feast of Tabernacles a decree is passed on the rain of the
year.
Philo,
in his treatise on the festivals, calls Rosh Hashanah the festival
of the sacred moon and feast of the trumpets, and explains the blowing
of the trumpets as being a memorial of the giving of the Torah and
a reminder of God's benefits to mankind in general ("De Septennario,"
§ 22).
Rabbi
Yaakov Kamenetsky explains that in earlier generations it was considered
preferable not to reveal that it was a "day of judgment"
so as not to mix any other feeling into "the day of the coronation
of G-d". In later generations as people lost touch with the
significance of the day it was necessary to reveal that it was also
"the day of judgment" so that people would approach the
holiday with proper awe and respect. (B'Mechitzot Rabbenu)
According
to rabbinic tradition, the creation of the world was completed on
1 Tishrei.
The
observance of the 1 Tishrei as Rosh Hashanah is based principally
on the mention of "zikkaron" ("memorial [day]";
Lev 23:24) and the reference of Ezra to the day as one "holy
to the Lord" (Neh 8:9) seem to point. The passage in Psalms
81:5 referring to the solemn feast which is held on New Moon Day,
when the shofar is sounded, as a day of "mishpat" (judgment)
of "the God of Jacob" is taken to indicate the character
of Rosh Hashanah .
In
Jewish thought, Rosh Hashanah is the most important judgment day,
on which all the inhabitants of the world pass for judgment before
the Creator, as sheep pass for examination before the shepherd.
The Talmud states, in tractate on Rosh Hashanah that three books
of account are opened on Rosh Hashanah, wherein the fate of the
wicked, the righteous, and those of an intermediate class are recorded.
The names of the righteous are immediately inscribed in the book
of life, and they are sealed "to live." The middle class
are allowed a respite of ten days till Yom Kippur, to repent and
become righteous; the wicked are "blotted out of the book of
the living." (Psalms 69:29)
The
zodiac sign of the balance for Tishrei is claimed to indicate the
scales of judgment, balancing the meritorious against the wicked
acts of the person judged. The taking of an annual inventory of
accounts on Rosh Hashanah is adduced by Rabbi Nahman ben Isaac from
the passage in Deut 11:12, which says that the care of God is directed
from "the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year".
1 Tishrei was considered as the beginning of Creation.
It
is said in the Talmud that on Rosh Hashanah the means of sustenance
of every person are apportioned for the ensuing year; so also are
his destined losses.
The
Zohar, a medieval work of Kabbalah, lays stress on the universal
observance of two days, and states that the two passages in Job
1:6 and Job 2:1, "when the sons of God came to present themselves
before the Lord," refer to the first and second days of Rosh
Hashanah, observed by the Heavenly Court before the Almighty.[18]
Next
--> Traditional
Rosh Hashanah greetings |