Dear Friends in Messiah,
Rosh HaShanah or Yom Teruah?
There is a two-day holy day, that occurs this year on September 11-13, that most of the world including the Jewish people know as Rosh HaShanah. Rosh ראש means “head” in Hebrew. Shanah שנה is “year.” Therefore, the traditional greeting on this holy day is “Happy New Year.”
Many of you are thinking: “But the biblical new year falls in the spring, at Passover time on 1 Nisan, when God gave the Israelites a new calendar. How can Rosh HaShanah be the new year when it falls in the seventh month of the Jewish year?” Good question. Before examining the answer, let’s look at the Torah where Rosh HaShanah originates.
Leviticus 23:23-25, “Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest [שבתון shah-bah-TOHN], a memorial of blowing of trumpets [זכרון תרועה zeekh-ROHN teh-ROO-ah], a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.'”
Numbers 29:1, “And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work. For you it is a day of blowing the trumpets [יום תרועה YOHM teh-ROO-ah].” The seventh month of the year is Tishrei. 1 Tishrei is supposed to be a holy convocation, mikra kodesh, מקרא קדש) meek-RAH KOH-dehsh). There’s no mention here of Rosh HaShanah.
Rosh HaShanah and the Rabbis
Judaism changed in Babylon. It became more rabbinic than biblical, less about what the Bible explicitly says and more about rabbinic tradition. The authority of the rabbis increased greatly once the Jewish people had no temple. Since there was no temple in which to have blood sacrifices, the rabbis replaced it with: teshuvah תשובה) tesh-shoo-VAH) repentance, tefillah תפלה) teh-fee-LAH) prayer, and tzedakah צדקה) tzeh-DAHK-ah) charity. They also adopted calendar changes, and the Jewish months ended up with names that came from Babylon. A civil (as opposed to religious) calendar was determined to be used for the counting of calendar years. So the 1st of Tishrei became the New Year for Years—Rosh HaShanah. (The name Rosh HaShanah first appeared in the Mishnah in the Second Century.)
Although the blowing of shofars is still a major part of Rosh HaShanah, since it is considered the day that we crown God as King anew each year, the name of the holy day comes from the rabbis, not the scriptures. Today, there is more emphasis on apples and honey than on a call to repentance, although two other names for the holiday—influenced by Babylon—add a somber tone: Yom HaZikaron יום הזכרון ) YOHM hah-zee-kah-ROHN) Day of Remembrance, and Yom HaDin יום הדין) YOHM hah- DEEN) Day of Judgment.
On the 1st of Tishrei of 444 B.C., a great assembly of Israelites who had returned from Babylonian captivity heard Ezra read from the Torah from morning until mid-day. The Bible says that all the people wept when they heard the words of the Law. “Then he said to them, ‘Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength'” (Neh. 8:10).
Rosh HaShanah and the Creation of the World
In traditional Judaism, besides being the “New Year,” Rosh HaShanah marks the “Birthday of the Universe” and the “Anniversary of the Creation of Humanity,” the moment that Adam and Eve were brought to life. A central theme of the liturgy in synagogues on Rosh HaShanah is God as Creator and King of the universe. During High Holiday prayers the phrase “haYom harat olam” (hah-YOHM hah-RAHT oh-LAHM) “today is the birthday of the world” is recited.
How did Judaism arrive at this? It is somewhat of a puzzle and depends on what rabbi you follow. This is seen in a debate in the Babylonian Talmud. Rabbi Eliezer said, “In Tishrei the world was created.” Rabbi Yehoshua argued, “In Nisan the world was created.” Rabbi Eliezer said, “The six days of creation began late in Elul, making 1 Tishrei, Day 6 of creation, the day Adam was created.” Rabbi Eliezer won the debate, and his opinion eventually became the accepted traditional view in Judaism. Was the world created on 1 Tishrei? This may or may not be true. What IS true is that there was a CREATION, and there is much to learn about God and His relationship with man from studying the creation of the world. It is good to remember Psalm 90:1-2, “Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.”
Gems from Genesis
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1) “B’resheet bara Elohim et hashamayim v’et ha-aretz.” בראשית ברא אלהים את השמים ואת הארץ Reisheet ראשית is from rosh ראש or “head.” Bara ברא is a verb used only with Deity (God is the only One who can create from nothing.) Elohim, אלהים a plural noun, indicates a complex unity. He is 1x1x1, not 1+1+1. A plural noun but a singular verb. God is the Creator—of the universe and life. In Colossians 1:16, we are told that Yeshua (who is God) created all things. Creation was His first miracle! God is Infinite, Powerful, Purposeful, Wise, and full of Glory. The universe displays His Glory. There is no such thing as “Mother Earth,” only Father God! “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork” (Ps. 19:1).
From Darkness to Light
“The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Gen. 1:2). Is this darkness what the Jewish prophet Isaiah is referring to when Lucifer (Satan) was cast out of heaven? (See Is. 14:12-15; Is. 60:2). It all began with CHAOS. Then the Spirit of God רוה אלהים ) Ruach Elohim) moved, hovered like a dove, over the face of the waters. So, at creation we see God (Elohim) and His Spirit (Ruach Elohim). Then God began to create by His Word—“Then God said, ‘Let there be light”; and there was light” (Gen. 1:3). God created light, ohr אור. We learn something important about God in this step of creation. He always moves from darkness to light, from chaos to order, and He creates with His Word.
There are two jewels hidden in Genesis 1:3. One has to do with God’s Word which He used to create. There is a concept of a “Memra,” some kind of word that existed at Creation with which God created the world. We know that that “word” has a name—Yeshua, the Living Word of God—who was present at creation and identified beautifully in John 1:1-3. “In the beginning [b’resheet] was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”
Yeshua, God’s Son, was actively involved in the creation of the world!
What about “light”? God spoke, and there was light. There is an ancient rabbinic tradition that there was a “primordial light” at creation, hidden under the throne of God. It has a name: Ohr ha ganuz אור הגנוז (OHR hah-gah-NOOZ). That light is the light of Messiah. Yeshua was there at the birthday of the world!
“And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness” (Gen. 1:4). Does God divide? Yes. Sheep from goats. Truth from lies. Faith from unbelief. A New Covenant example of this is found in I Peter 2:9, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
The Creation of Man
“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Gen. 1:26-27).
“Let us make man…” refers to all humanity, in Hebrew—adam אדם (ah-DAHM). Adam is used in Genesis 1:26 as a collective term for men and women. Adam is related to the word for blood דם (dahm), red adom אדם (ah-DOHM), and earth adamah אדמה (ah-dah-MAH). Made in the image of God by One who identifies Himself in the plural. I have mentioned before that this verse was what first revealed to my late husband Neil the reality of a triune God. It sent him on a search that ended up with his salvation and a vision of Yeshua, about nine feet tall, arms open wide, who said to him, “Welcome home, My son. I would have waited 2,000 more years just for you.”
What is the image of God? I believe that one aspect of this image is that God is eternal. So are we, His creation. We were created to live forever with Him. But—the choice is ours. Where will we spend eternity? God wants all of us with Him, but man has difficulty embracing the only way to eternal life: “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (I Jn. 5:12).
The image of God might also include our triune nature—body, soul, and spirit—just as God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God created a God-kind of being, unlike the birds, created after their kind, or unlike the fish, created after their kind. Human beings are the Creator’s supreme creation. We have the ability to think and reason and speak in a way that far surpasses the ability of animals. I must confess that from the reels I have seen on my iPhone, dogs seem to have an uncanny ability to love, especially with babies. They can only express love through action. Human beings can actually say, “I love you.” (We should do this more often.)
Traditional Jewish View of Genesis 1:26
How do traditional Jews explain “let us make man”? They say that the use of the plural is a Hebrew idiomatic way of expressing deliberation, or possibly the “plural of Majesty” as when royal commands are conveyed in the first person plural. My husband was not happy with this.
“…In our image, after our likeness” is explained in the Chumash (the Torah with commentaries) as follows: “Man alone among living creatures is gifted, like his Creator, with moral freedom and will. He is capable of knowing and loving God, and of holding spiritual communion with Him; and man alone can guide his actions in accordance with reason. Because man is endowed with reason, he can subdue his impulses in the service of moral and religious ideals, and is born to rule over Nature.”
According to the Brit Hadashah, man is not capable of subduing his impulses without the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit that God gives to those who receive His Son as Messiah and Lord. Even the great Rabbi Saul (Paul) said, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Yeshua the Messiah our Lord!” (Rom. 7:18-25).
Concerning “dominion,” the rabbinic explanation is as follows: “The secret of all modern science is in the first chapter of Genesis. Belief in the dominion of spirit over matter, of mind over nature, of man over the physical and the animal creation, was essential to the possession of that dominion.” As Messianic believers we agree with the commentary found in the Passion Translation of Genesis. “Before the earth could flourish under God’s blessing, there needed to be a man and woman to take dominion. The Lord created them to walk with him and to cultivate a garden. God made the earth to need a human touch. God and man were to work together to subdue, cultivate, and take dominion of the earth” (See Ps. 115:16). This intimacy with God is missing in traditional Jewish understanding because it is only found in a living, love relationship with the Creator through Yeshua, the Messiah.
Details of Creation
“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” (Gen. 2:7). So, the Lord formed the man (ha adam) of the dust of the ground (ha adamah) and breathed the breath of life into him. Yahweh-Elohim did not create man by an act of speech as He created everything else. Only human beings were created (sculpted), as if by a potter, but by the hands of God, the Potter. (Is. 29:16; Is. 64:8).
What about God breathing into man’s nostrils the breath of life? I like what the Passion Translation says, “To breathe into someone’s nostrils is what happens when two people kiss. God kissed life into Adam. God’s Word likewise is ‘God-breathed'” (as seen in II Tim. 3:16 in the NIV). This is the same idea as Song of Songs 1:2, “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—for your love is better than wine.”
Breath. Spirit. Wind. The same word in Hebrew: ruach, רוה) ROOH-akh). God poured His life-giving Spirit into a vessel of clay. So Creation began with a kiss! And the kiss, as explained by Job, brought with it understanding. “But there is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding” (Job 32:8). Some translations say “intelligence” as well as “understanding.” Man became a living being,
a “soul” or “nephesh” נפש) NEH-fehsh). The Talmud teaches that the word nephesh includes the idea of prayer. In other words, the man that God created is capable of communing with God.
Yes! We were created to have a loving relationship with our Creator. At Rosh HaShanah (Yom Teruah), as we ponder the creation of Adam, we must remember the Second Adam, Yeshua, the first born of the New Creation. “And so it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit” (I Cor. 15:45). “The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven” (I Cor. 15:47).
Rosh HaShanah (Yom Teruah) blessings to all who bear the image of the heavenly Man.
Love in Yeshua,
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