Sunday, September 7, 2014

Yom Teruah

How to Celebrate Yom Teruah like you mean it!!! Idioms for the Feast of Yom Teruah: Feast of Trumpets}} : REPENTANCE !!!!!!!


How to Celebrate Yom Teruah like you mean it!!!
    {{ Idioms for the Feast of Yom Teruah: Feast of Trumpets}} : REPENTANCE  !!!!!!! 
    Feast of Yom Kippur: REDEMPTION  Feast of Tabernacles: REJOICING  

Hebrew Roots Resource and Teaching 
Yom (pronounced Yome) Teruah basically means “day of noise/blasts.”

“Teruah” is traditionally understood as the blowing of the shofar, specifically the 
ram’s horn, but it is also translated as a joyful noise. In the English Bible is is 
referred to as the Feast of Trumpets and comes at the end of the fruit harvest in 
Israel. As noted in the verses above, Yom Teruah is on the first day of the 
seventh month which is more commonly called Tishri. 
Idioms for the Feast of Yom Teruah
    Feast of Trumpets : REPENTANCE   Feast of Yom Kippur: REDEMPTION  Feast of Tabernacles: REJOICING  
Idioms for the Feast of Yom Teruah:

    The Time of Jacobs trouble The Day of the Awakening Blast Yom HaDin/Day of Judgment/The Opening of the Books/Opening of the Gates Yom HaKeseh (The Hidden Day) Ha Kiddushin/Nesuin (Wedding of the Messiah)   Ha Melech (Coronation of the Messiah) 
Generally speaking, Yom Teruah comes at the time of the last harvest of the year, so in Exodus 34:22 this season is referred to as the end of the year. Yom Teruah is also called Rosh Hashanah, meaning the New (civil) Year.  However, we must remember that the LORD specifically states that the year begins in Nisan (or Aviv), the month of Passover.  
 Yom Teruah marks the beginning of the moedim, appointed times, that lasts through the twenty-second day of the seventh month, ending after the eighth day of Sukkkot (Feast of Tabernacles/Booths). This is a joyous time of celebration and worship of our Father.

The Akeidah
 Leviticus 23 tells us that the blowing is a memorial but it does not state "what" is being memorialized.  Many believe that it is a memorial of God’s grace to Abraham when He substituted a ram in place of Isaac. This is known as the Akeidah (the binding of Isaac). Traditionally, Judaism remembers the Akeidah at Yom Teruah. There are many parallels of between Isaac and Yeshua. Both men were sons of promise, both came into the world under miraculous circumstances with their births announced by angels and through both men the world has been blessed. Both men were beloved sons of their fathers who were blameless with neither one deserving any form of capital punishment, both men had to carry 
the implements of their judgment to the place of their sacrifices and both were in their mid to late thirties at the time of their sacrifice. Isaac and Yeshua went willingly and without uttering a word in their defense or attempting to change the mind of their fathers. And both of these men lived after the event–Isaac being substituted with a ram and Yeshua being raised up on the third day.

A shofar is usually made from a ram's horn and it reminds us of the ram that God provided to Abraham to take Isaac's place on the altar.  The blowing of the shofar has special significance on this day. The shofar has a beautiful sound and is sounded in 100 blasts on this day.

The shofar/trumpet is blown at special festivals and to herald the arrival of special seasons. Alfred Edersheim wrote that “One of it’s main purposes was to rouse men to repentance. In fact, the commentator Maimonides (1135 – 1204) makes use of the following words to denote the meaning of the blowing of trumpets: ‘Rouse ye, rouse ye from your slumber; awake, awake from your sleep, you who mind vanity, for slumber most heavy has fallen upon you. Take it to heart, before whom you are to give an account in the judgment.’”

In Scripture the shofar/trumpet sounding is almost always a summons, a war-cry, an alert warning (to prepare for something), to hail an arrival, or a wake-up call if someone is sleeping (spiritually or physically). As we learned just the other day, the shofar is again sounded in Israel just before a battle as it was in ancient days.

Yom Teruah begins a 10 day period known as the Days of Awe in which the blowing of the shofar is followed by a time of introspection, worshipers looking into their own hearts and lives for misdeeds and transgressions. These ten days are days of repentance and preparation for judgment. Yom Kippur/The Day of Atonement is the tenth day of the seventh month and is known as “Judgment Day”. This is our face to face appointment with the Most High God that is celebrated annually.

There are the exchange of greetings such as “Lashana Tova!” (Have a good year!) or “Lashana Tova Tikatevu!” (May you be inscribed [in the Book of Life] for a good year”. There are also special services and traditions within the Body of Messiah.

Tashlich is an interesting ceremony that is based on Micah 7:19 which states: “And Thou wilt cast (ve-tashlich) all their sins into the depths of the sea” This is generally done with prayer, confession of sin, and a relinquishing of that sin. To cast our stone into the water is a physical reminder of His casting our sins away into the sea of forgetfulness.

Special foods are eaten such as: Challah fashioned in a spiral pattern instead of a braided pattern to signify the circular and cyclical pattern of life; fruit, apples and honey (for a sweet new year); honey cakes, and carrot tzimmes!

Sliced apples for dipping in a honey pot to sample a sweet new year is probably the most common symbol of Yom Teruah aside from the shofar.  In fact, since this is the fruit and vegetable harvest celebration, sweet fruits and veggies are typically eaten at this celebration. This year, the younger children will participate in a fruit tasting/rating workshop at our picnic.  This should be fun to see your children sampling and enjoying the harvest.  

Bouillabaisse or Fish head dishes… uhhh, maybe next year?  This signifies the hope to be at HEAD and not the TAIL of situations during the coming year.  Instead, there will be a HEAD of Cabbage with coleslaw surrounding it as this year's HEAD and not the TAIL delicacy.  But a head of Lettuce (salads) or head of steamed Cauliflower with buttered peas surrounding it (or in Veggie trays)?  Maybe you have another idea to present, so let’s build a new traditions!!

Remember that this is a celebration, a festive time--but solemn assemblies can also be joyous ones. This is a holy day, an appointed time. This is a feast.
                                                       . . .  to be continued  

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