Dear Christian Leader,

The biblical holiday of Rosh HaShanah begins this Monday evening, September 6th at sunset. It marks the start of the biblical year 5782, and is the first of the High Holy Days, followed by Yom Kippur on September 16th and the Feast of Tabernacles, which begins September 20th. 

Rosh HaShanah is referred to in the Bible as the “Day of Trumpets,” or the Day of Blowing the Shofar (Yom Teruah in Hebrew). The sound of the shofar serves as a call to wake up from our apathy, examine our actions, repent and return to a whole-hearted relationship with God. The word for repentance in Hebrew is teshuva, which means to return, come back, change direction, turn around.

In his letter to the Ephesians, the apostle Paul echoes the call to teshuva issued during the holiday of Rosh HaShanah. In the context of writing about repentance, Paul exhorts us to “Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light” (Eph. 5:14). These words reinforce the call of the shofar to turn from apathy and be the light we are supposed to be in this world.

The traditional greeting for Rosh HaShanah is Shanah tovah u'metukah, which means a good and sweet year. This greeting invokes a blessing, and the prayers on Rosh HaShanah do as well. Sweet foods such as apples, honey and pomegranates are eaten to symbolize the blessing for a sweet year.

May we all have a good and blessed year as we continue to be light in this world by standing with Israel and the Jewish people!

Shanah tovah u'metukah!

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