The civil new year is used to count years. For example, every 50 years on the ‘tenth day of the seventh month,’ the shofar was sounded to begin the Year of Jubilee. Property was returned to its original owners and people went back home to their tribal lands to begin the 50-year cycle again. A similar command was given for the ‘year of release’ or shemitah. Every seven years was a shemitah when slaves would be released, debts would be dissolved, and the land would be given rest from planting. This ‘year of release’ began on Rosh Hashanah and ended before sunset the next Rosh Hashanah.
Category: Feast of Trumpets
A Shofar Test: Recognize the Sounds
For many of us if we hear a bugle call – Revele or Taps – (or me the sound of the steam engine passing by our house) we immediately recognize the sound and know its purpose. Do we know and understand the Sounds of Yom Teruah as acutely? Here is a ‘test’ of your knowledge…
Learn the Shofar Blasts
Israel was commanded to gather once a year ‘on a day and hour unknown’ and blow the trumpet or shofar. Could it be that they (and we) might have the need to recognize and understand the sounds of the trumpet so we can be prepared for the event represented by the sound?