“Happy New Year” to our spiritual ancestors within the Jewish faith. Monday and Tuesday of this week were Rosh Hashanah or New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Their holiday really is a holy day, unlike our American version of midnight drunken parties and daytime football games.
Judaism actually has several “new years”. We can best identify with this idea by remembering that we talk about a “school year”, a “fiscal year”, and even a “church year”. All of these are different from January the first when we change the date on the calendar.
The name “Rosh Hashanah” is not actually used in the Bible. The holiday is instituted in Leviticus 23:24-25 and it is most often referred to as “the day of remembrance”. No work was allowed during this time and much of the day was spent at the synagogue where the service focused on the sovereignty of God.
A common greeting among the Jewish community is “May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year”. In other words, “May God sign, seal, and deliver a good year for you”. That sure sounds a lot more uplifting than “Happy New Year”, doesn’t it?
There is one major similarity between the Jewish New Year and the American one. Both groups commonly use this time to look back at the mistakes, or missed opportunities of the past year, and resolve to make changes during the year ahead.
Thankfully we do not have to wait until January 1, 2016 to ask God to sign, seal, and deliver us from the mistakes, or missed opportunities of the past, and to fortify our resolve to walk more closely with Him in the future.
Bro. Dennis