In this section I have detailed the verses in the Nazarean Codicil which deal with Yom Teruah. My teacher, His Eminence Hakham Dr. Yoseph ben Haggai, gave over these ideas.
Recall that the machzor, the prayerbook, divides the service into three parts: Malchiyot (Kingship), Zichronot (Remembrance), and Shofarot (Shofar sounds). Lets start with a Shafarot (Shofar sounds) verses:
In the Hebraic mind, alms are given to avert danger. With this understanding lets examine:
Matityahu (Matthew) 6:2 Therefore when thou doest [thine] alms, do not sound a shofar before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.The aversion of danger with alms (or shekels
), is described in the gemara:
Shabbath 156b From Samuel too [we learn that] Israel is immune from planetary influence. For Samuel and Ablat were sitting, while certain people were going to a lake. Said Ablat to Samuel: ‘That man is going but will not return, [for] a snake will bite him and he will die.’ ‘If he is an Israelite,’ replied Samuel. ‘he will go and return.’ While they were sitting he went and returned. [Thereupon] Ablat arose and threw off his [the man's] knapsack, [and] found a snake therein cut up and lying in two pieces — Said Samuel to him, ‘What did you do?’ ‘Every day we pooled our bread and ate it; but to-day one of us had no bread, and he was ashamed. Said I to them, "I will go and collect [the bread]". When I came to him, I pretended to take [bread] from him, so that he should not be ashamed.’ ‘You have done a good deed,’ said he to him. Then Samuel went out and lectured: But charity delivereth from death; and [this does not mean] from an unnatural death, but from death itself.Yom Teruah is a day set aside for the gathering of the elect:
Bamidbar (Numbers) 29:1-6 And in the seventh month, on the first [day] of the month, ye shall have an holy convocation (this is a day set aside for gathering); ye shall do no servile work: it is [a Yom Teruah], a day of blowing the shofar unto you. And ye shall offer a burnt offering for a sweet savour unto HaShem; one young bullock, one ram, [and] seven lambs of the first year without blemish: And their meat offering [shall be of] flour mingled with oil, three tenth deals for a bullock, [and] two tenth deals for a ram, And one tenth deal for one lamb, throughout the seven lambs: And one kid of the goats [for] a sin offering, to make an atonement for you: Beside the burnt offering of the month, and his meat offering, and the daily burnt offering, and his meat offering, and their drink offerings, according unto their manner, for a sweet savour, a sacrifice made by fire unto HaShem. Now, compare the above verses with the prophecy of the gathering of the elect:
Matityahu (Matthew) 24:31 And he shall send his angels (His minister) with a great sound of a shofar, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.In the gathering of the elect, the shofar is prominent, as it is on Yom Teruah. Therefore, we must conclude that the gathering of the elect will take place on Yom Teruah.
To understand these next phrases, we must consider how a shofar, a ram’s horn, was used in Biblical times. Today a shofar is considered a piece of Judaica, a religious item. To get a shofar one would go to the local synagogue or Judaica store. However, in Biblical times you would have gone down to the local sword or javelin maker, because the shofar was primarily a weapon of war. The shofar was used by military commanders and officers to signal the troops. This is illustrated by:
Shoftim (Judges) 7:16-22 And he divided the three hundred men [into] three companies, and he put a shofar in every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers. And he said unto them, Look on me, and do likewise: and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall be [that], as I do, so shall ye do. When I blow with a shofar, I and all that [are] with me, then blow ye the shofarot also on every side of all the camp, and say, [The sword] of HaShem, and of Gideon. So Gideon, and the hundred men that [were] with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the shofarot, and brake the pitchers that [were] in their hands. And the three companies blew the shofarot, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the shofarot in their right hands to blow [withal]: and they cried, The sword of HaShem, and of Gideon. And they stood every man in his place round about the camp: and all the host ran, and cried, and fled. And the three hundred blew the shofarot, and HaShem set every man's sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Beth-shittah in Zererath, [and] to the border of Abel-meholah, unto Tabbath.
In the above example, the enemy was terrified when they heard so many shofarot because those were only the commanders, or so they thought, and yet there was a great multitude!
The shofar is then an implement of war. Whenever we see the shofar, we should have, in our mind, the vision of a weapon of war. Its use was for war and for preparation for war. This is beautifully shown in:
Zephaniah 1:12-16 And it shall come to pass at that time, [that] I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, HaShem will not do good, neither will he do evil. Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit [them]; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof. The great day of HaShem [is] near, [it is] near, and hasteth greatly, [even] the voice of the day of HaShem: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day [is] a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, A day (yom) of the shofar and alarm (teruah) against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. Hmmm, a Yom Shofar Teruah…
To sum it up, lets note that the shofar, this implement of war, is designed to terrify:
Amos 3:6 Shall a shofar be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and HaShem hath not done [it]?With this in mind, lets look at another commander:
1 Corinthians 4:16 For the Master himself [Mashiach] shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel [His Chief minister], and with the shafar of God: and the dead in Mashiach shall rise first:
Note the association of the shofar with the command of the Archangel (Chief Minister = Commander). Thus Yom Teruah is associated with a battle.
Now lets examine verses of Zichronot (Remembrance).
1 Corinthians 14:8 For if the shofar give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?Now, compare that with:
Bamidbar (Numbers) 10:8-9 And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the shofarot; and they shall be to you for an ordinance for ever throughout your generations. And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the shofarot; and ye shall be REMEMBERED (and/or you will remember) before HaShem your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies.These verses allude to the fact that Yom Teruah will be a day for battle preparation.
1 Corinthians 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last blast of the shofar: for the shofar shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be physically transformed.Compare the above verses with:
Vayikra (Leviticus) 23:23-25 And HaShem spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first [day] of the month, shall ye have a Shabbat, a memorial [Zichronot - a remembrance] of blowing of shofarot, an holy convocation [a day set aside for gathering]. Ye shall do no servile work [therein]: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto HaShem.
So, on The Day of Zichronot, of Remembrance, the righteous living and dead shall be gathered and transformed.
Bereans (Hebrews) 12:18-19 For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, And the sound of a shofar, and the voice of words (commandments – as at Mt. Sinai); which [voice] they that heard intreated that the word (command) should not be directly addressed to them any more:
Note how the Israelites panicked and ran at the voice of HaShem from Mt. Sinai:
Midrash Rabbah - Shemot (Exodus) XXIX:4 Another explanation of I AM THE LORD THY GOD. R Aha b. R. Hanina began: Hear, O My people, and I will speak (Ps. L, 7). (As it is written on the Decalogue down to) R. Simeon b. Yohai said: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel: ‘I am God over all earth's creatures, yet I have associated My name only with you; for I am not called "the god of idolaters" but "the God of Israel".’ R. Levi said: Israel asked of God two things-that they should see His glory and hear His voice; and they did see His glory and hear His voice, for it says, And ye said: Behold, the Lord our God hath shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice out of the midst of the fire (Deut. V, 21). But they had no strength to endure [this Revelation], for when they came to Sinai and God revealed Himself to them, their souls fled because He spoke with them, as it says, My soul failed me when He spoke (S.S. V, 6). It was the Torah that pleaded for mercy for them before God: ‘Is there a king who gives his daughter away in marriage and slays his own family? The whole world is now rejoicing, yet Thine own children are dead.’ Whereon their souls immediately returned, for it says, The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul (Ps. XIX, 8). R. Levi said: Was it not obvious to God that if He revealed His glory to Israel and made them hear His voice, they would not be able to endure it? God, however, foresaw that they would one day worship idols, and to prevent them from pleading, ‘Had God shown us His glory and greatness, and made us hear His voice, we would not have worshipped idols’- for this reason does it say, ’Hear, O My people, and I will speak. ' Midrash Rabbah - Shemot (Exodus) XXIX:9 Another explanation of I AM THE LORD THY GOD. It is written, The lion hath roared, who will not fear? (Amos III, 8), which explains the verse, Who would not fear Thee, O King of the nations? For it befitteth Thee (Jer. X, 7). The prophets said to Yiremyahu (Jeremiah): ' Why do you say " O King of the nations"? All the other prophets call Him "King of Israel", whereas you call Him, "King of the nations."’ To which he replied: ‘I heard Him say to me, " I have appointed thee a prophet unto the nations " (ib. I, 5), and therefore do I say "King of the nations", thereby implying that if He does not spare His own children and His family, will He then spare others?-as it says, Awful is God, because of thy holy places (Ps. LXVIII, 36).’3 ’ Who would not fear Thee, O King of the nations?’-Who will not be afraid of Thee? It is as if a money-lender having filled his pocket with gold coins stood crying out loudly: ' Whosoever wishes can come and borrow,’ and when people heard this, they fled, saying: ' When the time comes for him to be repaid, which debtor will be able to bear it? ' Similarly, God came down to Sinai to give the Decalogue so that the world shall not totter,4as it says, The earth trembled, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God (ib. 9).5 The mountains also quaked before God and also the pillars of heaven shook, and Israel also trembled, as it says, And all the people... trembled (Ex. XIX, 16). The mountain trembled, for it says, And the whole mount quaked greatly (ib. 18). Why did they all quake? Because He spoke words of life,1and the prophet cries out, ’ The lion hath roared, who will not fear?’ R. Yiremyahu (Jeremiah) said: If the earth trembled when He gave life to the world, how much the more so when He comes to punish the wicked for transgressing the words of the Torah?-as it says, Who can withstand His wrath? (Nahum 1:6). And who may abide the day of His coming? (Mal. III, 2). If no creature has power to stand before Him when He is pleased, then who can stand before Him when He rises in His fierce wrath? Hence ’Who would not fear Thee, O King of the nations?’ (Jer. X, 6). Another explanation: ’The lion hath roared.’ It is written, They shall walk after the Lord, who shall roar like a lion (Hos. XI,10). R. Simon said: It is like a king who entered his palace, and when his lady heard this, she made room for him and trembled. If the lady trembled, what should the maid-servant and men-servants do? So when God revealed Himself to give the Torah to Israel, they heard the voice and died, as it says, ’My soul failed when He spoke’ (S.S.V, 6); if Israel were so afraid, then how much more were the nations?Also note in the Book of Revelation in:
Revelation 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a shofar,
Revelation 4:1-2 After this I looked, and, behold, a door [was] opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard [was] as it were of a shofar talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit; and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and [one] sat on the throne. Note that sitting is always in respect of judgment. A king sits on his throne ONLY in respect of judgment!:
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 33:21 And he provided the first part for himself, because there, [in] a portion of the lawgiver, [was he] seated; and he came with the heads of the people, he executed the justice of HaShem, and his judgments with Israel.
Daniel 7:9-10 I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment [was] white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne [was like] the fiery flame, [and] his wheels [as] burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened. Remember, a throne is ALWAYS a place of judgment!
Revelation 8:2-3 And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven shofarot. And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer [it] with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. Notice how the shofar ushers in the judgment. In this vein, we can understand that war is also a way in which HaShem judges people. The battle trully belongs to HaShem!
Revelation 8:6-13 And the seven angels which had the seven shofarot prepared themselves to sound. The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed. And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter. And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise. And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the shofar of the three angels, which are yet to sound! Revelation 9:13-16 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, Saying to the sixth angel which had the shofar, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.Notice how the blast of the shofar is associated with the theme of judgment and with the autumn festivals.
Midrash Rabbah - Vayikra (Leviticus) XXIX:10 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in the thicket by its horns (Gen. XXII, 13). This teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, showed our father Abraham the ram tearing itself free from one thicket and getting entangled in another. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Abraham: ‘In a similar manner are your children destined to be caught by iniquities and entangled in troubles, but they will ultimately be redeemed through the horns of the ram.’ Hence it is written, The Lord God will blow the horn (Zech. IX, 14).1 R. Huna son of R. Isaac said: It teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, showed Abraham the ram tearing itself free from one thicket and getting entangled in another. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Abraham: ‘In a similar manner are your children destined to be caught by the nations and entangled in troubles, being dragged from empire to empire, from Babylon to Media, from Media to Greece, and from Greece to Edom, but they will ultimately be redeemed through the horns of the ram.’ Hence it is written, The Lord shall be seen over them, and His arrow shall go forth as the lightning; and the Lord God will blow the horn (ib.). R. Abba son of R. Pappi and R. Joshua of Siknin in the name of R. Levi said: All the days of the year Israel are occupied with their work, and on New Year they take their horns and blow before the Holy One, blessed be He, who rises from the Throne of Judgment and moves to the Throne of Mercy, and is filled with compassion for them. When? IN THE SEVENTH MONTH.
Midrash Rabbah - Vayikra (Leviticus) XXIX:6 R. Berekiah opened his discourse with the text: Blow the horn at the new moon when it is concealed for our feast-day (Ps. LXXXI, 4). 2 But is there not new moon every month? Or will you answer, ’When it is concealed’? And are not all new moons concealed? Or will you answer, ’For our feast-day’? Is not Nisan a month in which the moon is concealed and has a festival of its own? The meaning can only be as follows: which month is it where the moon is concealed and has a festival, and the festival falls on that very day [of new moon]? You will not find any other except the month of Tishri. In this month then you shall turn over a new leaf with the blowing of the horn (shofar). In this month you shall amend (shapperu) your deeds. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel: ‘If you will amend (shippartem) your deeds I shall become unto you like a horn (shofar). As the horn takes in [the breath] at one end and sends out at the other, so will I rise from the Throne of Judgment and sit upon the Throne of Mercy and will change for you the Attribute of Justice into the Attribute of Mercy. When? IN THE SEVENTH MONTH.
Berachoth 12b Raba b. Hinena the elder also said in the name of Rab: Throughout the year one says in the Tefillah, ‘The holy God’, and ‘King who lovest righteousness and judgment’, except during the ten days between New Year and the Day of Atonement, when he says, ‘The holy King’ and ‘The King of judgment’. R. Eleazar says: Even during these days, if he said, ‘The holy God’, he has performed his obligation, since it says, But the Lord of Hosts is exalted through justice, and the holy God is sanctified through righteousness: When is the Lord of Hosts exalted through justice? In these ten days from New Year to the Day of Atonement; and none-the-less it says, ‘the holy God’. What do we decide? — R. Joseph said: ‘The holy God’ and ‘The King who loves righteousness and judgment’; Rabbah said: ‘The holy King’ and ‘The King of judgment’. The law is as laid down by Rabbah.
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My teacher has taught that the incident of the ten virgins refers to Yom Teruah. His Eminence has indicated that the reason for having extra oil is because they did not know the hour.
Matityahu (Matthew) 25:1-13 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five [were] foolish. They that [were] foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, [Not so]; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
The last service on Yom HaKippurim is called neilah. Neilah means “closing the door”. This is the final opportunity for repentance. It is the final opportunity to enter the kingdom.
In addition, the door was shut as Chazal teach that when Mashiach comes there will be no more converts:
Yevamoth 24b Our Rabbis learnt: No proselytes will be accepted in the days of the Messiah. In the same manner no proselytes were accepted in the days of David nor in the days of Solomon. Said R. Eleazar: What Scriptural [support is there for this view]?-Behold he shall be a proselyte who is converted for my own sake,’ he who lives with you shall be settled among you, he only who ‘lives with you’ in your poverty shall be settled among you; but no other.
