Rosh Hashanah

After several weeks of study and reading, we celebrated Rosh Hashanah starting last night at sundown. We gathered together to celebrate the Feast of Trumpets, to appreciate that part of our spiritual heritage, and to look forward to what it could mean for us in the future.

Rosh Hashanah is the spiritual new year on the Jewish calendar and begins 10 days of repentance and reflection before Yom Kippur, the day of Atonement. Many spend this time righting wrongs with others and repenting so that God will right their name in the Book of Life. A popular greeting is
L'Shanah Tovah Tikatevu
Literal Hebrew to English Translation: May you be inscribed (in the Book of Life) for a good year.

We had many of the traditional Rosh Hashanah foods like apples and honey, and round challah bread to represent a sweet new year. (Brad made it, I burned it ;)). We had spinach in hopes for a good crop this year (perfect since we started a garden!) and rice to show abundance. We even had kosher wine and blessed everything from the candles down to the apples just like at a traditional Rosh Hashanah feast.

We listened to the shofar (ram's horn "trumpet") sound to call our attention to the beginning of the high holy days, and reflected on verses about Jesus' return at the sound of a trumpet (a shofar?).

Today we went to the park for the Tashlich, or casting off. We pulled out our pockets, and threw our sins (bread crumbs) into the depths (of the pond...and eaten by ducks). We read Micah 7:18-19: "Who is like You, God, who removes iniquity and overlooks transgression of the remainder of His inheritance. He does not remain angry forever because He desires kindness. He will return and He will be merciful to us, and He will conquer our iniquities, and He will cast off our sins into the depths of the seas."

All in all, I think it was a great first Rosh Hashanah. I think there is a lot to learn about the character of God and how He interacts with His people by studying and participating in the feasts of the Old Testament. We can celebrate with even more joy because Jesus fulfilled so many aspects of these feasts! We can prepare ourselves for the Day of Atonement knowing that our sins have already been covered and we don't have to wait to see if our names have been inscribed in the Book of Life!

I'm looking forward to the next 10 days of reflection, and for Yom Kippur, a day of atoning..then Sukkot, the feast of tabernacles. So many ways to celebrate!

Here are some of the books I have been reading that have really piqued my interest in the Feasts.

Girl Meets God by Lauren F. Winner
Feast: Finding your place at the table of tradition by Derek Leman
Celebrating Jesus in the Biblical Feasts: Discovering Their Significance to You as a Christian by Richard Booker

It's Been A While...

It's been quite a while since I've blogged, mostly because I didn't have anything worth sharing. And then as weeks go by it feels overwhelming to try to recap everything that's happened since you last blogged and you continue not to blog...so I'm not even going to attempt the detailed recap; I'm just going to move forward.

God has been doing some amazing things, and showing Himself to me in new ways.

I've been reading and studying alot about the Jewish feasts of the Old Testament, and I've found so much new meaning tucked away in traditions most of us overlook! God has never made an accidental move in all of history. Each act, though strange or seemingly unimportant to us, has been planned with purpose, meant to reveal aspects of God and his plan for those who have "eyes to see" and "ears to hear." Anyway, I say all that to say I'm learning more about the heritage of my Jewish brothers and sisters, and what their celebrations tell me about Jesus; how He brought so much fulfillment in His coming, His death and resurrection!

I say all that to say this: we're going to celebrate Rosh Hashanah this weekend! And I'm really really excited about it. Rosh Hashanah is all about trumpets, a shofar actually, a rams horn...the horn used to call the people's attention. Rosh Hashanah is spent blowing the shofar, calling people's heart's to repentance in preparation for Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement, where the people would all come together to ask atonement for the year's sins, kind of a spiritual new year. More to come on that...

My goal in blogging this morning, however, was to tell about church this morning. I went to Christ Cathedral downtown, an Episcopal church. This was the second time I've been. And this time, like the last, I was just kind of overwhelmed by the beauty and ritual and reverence, especially during the Eucharist (Lord's Supper for you C of C people). In the tradition that I grew up in, there wasn't alot of pomp and circumstance; nothing flashy, no bowing, kneeling, hand-raising, so part of my fascination could be the pure novelty of it. But something about walking down to the front of this huge, magnificent church, a church meant to remind us of the majesty and glory of God, and receiving the bread and wine...it feels to me like a small glimpse of Heaven. I think there will be alot more reverent acts of bowing and being overwhelmed with beauty, and kneeling in awe in Heaven than most of us represent here in our worship. I'm not saying I'm going to become an Episcopal, heck, by the end of it all I may end up a Messianic Jew. What I am saying is that I'm learning to appreciate the different ways people have tried to capture and display the character of God and worship Him in all His majesty.

I've been struck recently with just how holy God is. Growing up I had more of a God is my friend mentality, and there's certainly a place for that. But I feel God is showing me new facets of His character that I've never seen before. A few weeks ago it was learning to see Him as the One who wants to free me, this week has been alot of realizing His holiness and majesty. In studying about Yom Kippur, I was reminded of how the Old Testament describes how no one can be directly in God's presence, now one can look at Him directly. People couldn't even look directly at the glowing face of Moses when He has seen some of the glory of God! So God took measures to be close to His people even though they were dirty and broken and unworthy: a temple, a veil, incense, priests, sacrifices, and now through Jesus, a torn veil, His own son's blood shed for our atonement, all so we can be near Him.

So to me it seems that we should do everything we can to draw near to Him! Whether its surrounding yourself by a beautiful church or in His creation to remind you of His beauty, do it! If it's in kneeling, bowing, praying, silence, or celebrating feasts that technically aren't yours, do it! He's taken every measure to tear down the barriers between us so that we can know Him, and now I'm more excited than ever to explore every way that I can learn about Him and draw near to Him.