{"id":13133,"date":"2018-09-10T06:10:42","date_gmt":"2018-09-10T13:10:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/?p=13133"},"modified":"2018-09-10T06:10:43","modified_gmt":"2018-09-10T13:10:43","slug":"yom-teruah-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/2018\/09\/10\/yom-teruah-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"The Significance of Yom Teruah (part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Very little is said in the Tanakh about Yom Teruah. In fact, the Torah only mentions it twice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Leviticus 23:24<\/b>, \u201cSpeak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall you have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Numbers 29:1<\/b>, \u201cAnd in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have an holy convocation; you shall do no servile work: it is a day of blowing the trumpets unto you.\u201d<\/b><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Nehemiah shows us how the Jews kept Yom Teruah (Neh 8:1ff).<\/b><\/p>\n

Ezra (500 BC) restored the observance of\u202fYom Teruah\u202ffollowing the return of the Jews from their seventy-year exile in Babylon. Ezra the\u202fcohen (priest)\u202fbrought the\u202fTorah before the assembly, both men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month\u2019 (Nehemiah 8:2)<\/p>\n

The day is recorded as one which included, worship, joyful fellowship, instruction from the Scriptures, sharing with the needy: \u202f\u2018…all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they had understood the words, that were declared unto them (Neh 8-12)<\/p>\n

The reading of the Torah was at the center of Nehemiah\u2019s Yom Teruah celebration (Neh 8:1, 18).<\/p>\n

On this day, sorrow and joy kissed each other; sorrow because the Jews realized they had\u00a0 <\/span>failed to keep Torah\u2014the very thing that sent them into exile and caused the destruction of Jerusalem; joy because it was a Yom Tov<\/i> or a good day and a festival of YHVH when his people are to rejoice in him and draw close to him and he to them, since it is a divine appointment or moed<\/i>.<\/p>\n

But why rejoice on this day? The Torah and the account in Nehemiah leave us guessing? What specifically were the Jews rejoicing about on Yom Teruah?<\/p>\n

We are told so little about this day that we have to draw out every clue possible from the scantiest details Scripture affords us about this day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Jews of Nehemiah\u2019s day were obviously rejoicing at rediscovering the Torah and learning its truths that would guide them through life and keep them as a set-apart people. Knowing the Torah would bring them closer to YHVH\u2014to his heart and mind. Therefore, we can infer that on this day, we are to rejoice over the Torah\u2014our instructions in righteousness give to us by YHVH our Creator.<\/p>\n

Additionally, perhaps the name of the day itself, Yom Teruah, gives us a clue as to why we the ancient Jews were joyful and we too should be joyful. On this day, why did the people shout and blow shofars?\u00a0 <\/span>We can answer this question by reviewing the places in the Scripture where YHVH\u2019s people shouted and blew shofars. Perhaps this will give us a clue as to what this day is commemorating, and therefore why we should be rejoicing as Neh 8:10 tells us to do.<\/p>\n

The Shofar\u202fCan Be Blown for the Following Reasons<\/b><\/p>\n