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

Year occurs i'll the fall. And be-
cause OF this discrepancy between
the lunar and solar years there is Il
few days variation from year to
year in the date of the celebration
according to current calendar.
Different from the ordinary con-
ception Rosh Hoshanah has deep
religious significance. 1t is called,
III the Bible, the day Of remembrance,
the day Of judgment and the day Of
blowing the shofar, or trumpet. 1t is
more than anything else really the
preparation for the great Yom 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
penitcnce, each of which is observed
as half-feast day by The more or
thodox Jews, while the Yom Kippur
itself is invariably observed as q
complete fast.
The rabbinical allegory that on
Rosh Hosahamah God commands the
recording angel to open the books of
each ones sins and merits. leaving
the record open to be finally and
irrevocably closed ON the Yom Kip
pnr, Indicates at once the significance
OF the day and the appropriateness
of Callin" the New Year the dav of
remembrance, judgment and of blow
ing the shofar.
Perhaps the most distinguishing
feature in the ritual of Rosh Hos
hanah is the blow of the shofar. The
sh"far is made of curved rams horn,
and us in earlier times the blowing
OF the horn was rcSortcd to as a sig
nal for preparing for war, assembling
for special purposes and particularly
to announce religious ceremonies The
cnst,m Of blowing The shofar in the
's .;n"o&ue has been retained. The
blowing Of the shofar 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 twcn-
ty-third chapter Of Lcviticus il is
SAID that God in the observance of
atonement day observed: "When We
shall afflict your souls.' The mean
ing Of the words is rather obscure,
burt the early rabbis interpreted them
to mean abstinence from food, hence,
fasting has become the universal
custom in the observance Of this dav.
The Succoth, or the Feast Of Tab
ernacles, which corresponds with the
Christian Thanksgiving concludes the
cycle Of holy days with il weeks Gel
ebration, and, as in all such eases,
the first and last days Of the obscr-
vance arc marked by religious scrvic-
cs. This week is really the thanks
giving festival which is largely anal
o@ous to the modern harvest home. IT
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 pilgrimascs, concluding
the Passover, the Pcnticost and thc
Feast of Tabernaclcs.
As stated in the sixteenth chaptc,
OF Deuteronomy: "Thrce lines Il
year y"n shall appear before God. "
on these occasions (of course during
he existence of the Hebrew state)
every Hebrew who could, assembled
IN Jerusalem. SO they were political
economic and social as we'll and re-
helouS in their character
Added to the forming which might
be called the eighth day Of the Feast
or Tabcrnaclcs was another cclcbra-
ton known as the Feast Of Conclu-
sion. which in the Hebrew is Shrmini
Atzrrc1h. which, according to fine Ri,
hllcal injunction, winds up The cycle
In past Biblical times, not content
with this. the rabbis inauguratcd 4
further celebration which thew called
the Feast Of the Rejoicing Of the
Lcw-SimchaS Torah.