The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1908-09-18

Year ucrir~ IN .!c IHl!. And be-
"au>c oI ,hi> discrepancy between
he lunar and solar years there is 4
, lew days variation from year to
year in lie date Of the celebration
accordin" to current calendar.
Different from the ordinary con-
ceptiun Rn>h HoShanah has deep
religious significance. 1t is called
in the Bible. the day Of remembrance.
the day Of Judgment and the day Of
bluwing the Shofar. or trumpet. 1t Is
more than anything else really the
preparation for the great Iom Kip
pur. or Day Of Atonement.
The days between Rosh Hoshanah
and Yom Kippur are being known as
the awful days, or the ten days of
penitence, each of which is observed
as half-feast day by the more or
thodox Jews, while the Yom Kippur
itself is invariably observed as "a
complete fast.
The rabbinical allegory that on
RoSh Ho>ahannah God commands the
recording angel to open the books of
each one sins and merits. leaving
the record open to be finally and
| irrcvocablv closed on the Yom Kip
pur. indicates at once the significance
Of the day and the appropriateness
Of calling the New Year the day of
remembrance, judgment and Of blow
ing the shofar.
i Perhaps the most distinguishing
feature in the ritual Of Rosh Hos
hanah is the blow Of the shofar. The
; shofar is made of curved rams horn
and as in earlier times the blowing
Of the horn was resorted to as a sig
nal for preparing for war, assembling
for special purposes and particularly
to announce religious ceremonies. The
! cuSton Of blowing the shofar in the
:.::a@oSue has been retained. The
blowing Of the s?ofar on Rosh Hos
hannah is the signal for each soul
to rouse itself, consider its past, re-
feet upon its deserts and prepare to
be more worthy in the future.
In the law commanded in the twen-
tv-third chapter of Leviticus it is
said that God in the observance of
atonement day observed: "When ye
shall afflict your souls The mean
ing Of the words is rather obscure
but the early rabbis interpreted them
to mean abstinence from food, hence
fasting has become the universal
custom in the observance Of this day
The Succoth, or the Feast Of Tab
ernacles, which corresponds with the
Christian Thanksgiving concludes the
cycle Of holy days with weeks eel.
ebration, and, as in all such cases.
the first and last days Of the obser-
vance are marked by religious servic,
es. This week is really the thanks
giving festival which is largely anal
ogous to the modern harvest home. II
partakes in no wise Of the nature OF
the two preceding holy days and is
connected with them only in time
This feast belongs rather to the cycle
Of the three pilgrimages, concluding
the Passover, the Penticost and the
Feast Of Tabernacles.
As stated in the sixteenth chapter
Of Deuteronomy: "Three times a
year you shall appear before God,'
on these occasions (of course during
the existence of the Hebrew state)
every Hebrew who could, assembled
in Jerusalem, so tle, were political
economic and social as we'll and re,
hgious in their character.
Added to the forming which mi, rht
be called the eighth day Of the Feast
Of Tabernacles was another celebra.
ton known as the Feast of Conclu,
sion, which in the Hebrew is Shemin;
Atzereth. which. according to the Bi,
blical injunction. winds up the cycle
In past Biblical times. not content
with this. the rabbis inaugurated q
further celebration which they called
the Feast Of the Rejoicing Of the
Lew-Simchas ToraIh.