This is the time of year
when we celebrate a new year. We spend a month preparing by adding a psalm to
the evening a morning services and hear the shofar every non-Shabbat
morning. This leads us to the solemn
mood of the actual days of Rosh Hashana.
They are days of prayer, reflection, thanks, and appreciation of family,
friends, and community. Rosh Hashana is the birthday of the world. The day is
universal. Rosh Hashana is a fall holiday always on Tishri 1.
Before 1752 the date of the new
year in the western world had several dates, January 1, March 1, March 15,
March 25, September 22, December 25, and
Easter. March 25 (for the spring solstice) and Easter are close in time to the
Jewish month of Nissan, which is the first of months according to the Torah.
January 1 was the beginning
of the civil year in Ancient Rome beginning about 153 BCE. It was the date the year tenure of the
consuls began. Julius Caesar introduced
a solar based calendar called the Julian calendar in 46 BCE. He decreed the new year started on January
1. This date became consistent in the
Roman world.
In the middle ages
celebrations of the new year were considered pagan and unchristian. The new year date was not consistent. In 1582 when Pope Gregory introduced
calendar reforms to correct discrepancies between the calendar date and the
solar date. 10 days need to be added to
the calendar. This meant the date in England was not the same as the rest of Europe. The Julian calendar was 11.5
minutes less than the solar year. The
Gregorian calendar differs from the solar year by 11 seconds per year. The
Jewish calendar is a lunar-solar year that is corrected by adding seven leap
years within a 19 year cycle. This makes the dates seem to late or early
compared to the civil years, but with
the cycle the holidays always occur within correct seasons.
On September 2, 1752 British subjects including the U.S. Colonies went to
bed and woke up on September 14. The
days were added to the calendar to put England into sync with those countries using the Gregorian
calendar. Russia adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1918 after the
revolution.
The early Christians
celebrated their new year with reflecting on past mistakes and resolving to
improve, echoing their Jewish roots. In
ancient times and continuing to modern China noise and fireworks are used. This is custom is believed to bring good luck
by scaring away evil spirits. In the United States new year is a time for parties and celebrations,
football, parades, and the Times
Square gathering.
I wish you a Shana Tovah, a
good year full of good things and events.
May you, your family and friends, be showered by haKodesh Barechu with
Gezunt (health), Parnassah (income) , Yiddishe Nachat (pride from your children
and families), wisdom, and may you have the honor and respect that you
deserve. May all your Tefillot (prayers)
be answered for the good and may we only share in Simachot (happy occasions)
and support each other in times of need.
May we be zoche (deserving) to
experience peace in our personal lives, peace in our communities, peace in Israel, and peace in the entire world for the coming
year. We should pray for peace,
prosperity, and justice for all for now and forever.
Ketiva v'chatima tovah! May
you be inscribed for a good year, a sweet year! May
God bless us and keep us, shine his face on us,
and send us a happy and good year for us and all those we know.
Spread the good wishes to
all your friends, family, and contacts.
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Comments: Sept 21, 2014
After receiving many nice comments and discussing some of the academic points above I have additional comments.
Connection to library cataloging -- Entering the year is an important part of the catalog record. The date helps keep editions straight. There are well established practices for entering Hebrew dates and making sure the correct civil date is indicated. For example from now until January 1, 2015, one must be careful about the Hebrew year of 5775. The the year may be entered as 2014/2015.
Every year publishers will issue books with the following year on the title page. For example the publisher puts "2015" on the title page and copyright date, but sells the book months before January 1. The rules tell the cataloger to record the date as written on the title page and usually a note will be added to remove confusion. Before I wrote the above piece I never thought about a difference in date on a British book when compared to the date in Europe. We would record the date from the title page. The first law of copyright, The Statue of Anne was effective in February 1709. However, the year was 1710 in Europe.
Noise making -- The sound of the shofar is loud and piercing sound. In the month before Rosh Hashana we blow the shofar every morning. On the morning of the 29th of Elul we do not blow the shofar with the reason given, "we want to confuse the Satan (evil spirits). If the shofar blower has difficulty blowing on the day of Rosh Hashana the folklore says that Satan is in the shofar preventing the sound form emerging. These ideas may be related to the noise making on new year for other cultures. The difference is the law of blowing and listening to the shofar. One is required to listen to 100 sound blasts. Someone calls out each sound so that the shofar blower can concentrate on the sound. Each blast must be perfect or it must be repeated until it is correct.
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Comments: Sept 21, 2014
After receiving many nice comments and discussing some of the academic points above I have additional comments.
Connection to library cataloging -- Entering the year is an important part of the catalog record. The date helps keep editions straight. There are well established practices for entering Hebrew dates and making sure the correct civil date is indicated. For example from now until January 1, 2015, one must be careful about the Hebrew year of 5775. The the year may be entered as 2014/2015.
Every year publishers will issue books with the following year on the title page. For example the publisher puts "2015" on the title page and copyright date, but sells the book months before January 1. The rules tell the cataloger to record the date as written on the title page and usually a note will be added to remove confusion. Before I wrote the above piece I never thought about a difference in date on a British book when compared to the date in Europe. We would record the date from the title page. The first law of copyright, The Statue of Anne was effective in February 1709. However, the year was 1710 in Europe.
Noise making -- The sound of the shofar is loud and piercing sound. In the month before Rosh Hashana we blow the shofar every morning. On the morning of the 29th of Elul we do not blow the shofar with the reason given, "we want to confuse the Satan (evil spirits). If the shofar blower has difficulty blowing on the day of Rosh Hashana the folklore says that Satan is in the shofar preventing the sound form emerging. These ideas may be related to the noise making on new year for other cultures. The difference is the law of blowing and listening to the shofar. One is required to listen to 100 sound blasts. Someone calls out each sound so that the shofar blower can concentrate on the sound. Each blast must be perfect or it must be repeated until it is correct.
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