Wishing You A Good Year

Wishing You a Good Year

Rosh Hashannah falls on the 1^st day of the 7^th month of the Jewish calendar.  One might think it is a strange time to declare the New Year, but our sages had no trouble reconciling the date and the declaration.  Indeed, they understood that there were four distinct New Years to be observed every year.  Mishnah Rosh HaShannah notes that the 1^st of Nisan (near Passover) is the new year for kings and holidays, the 1^st of Elul (a month ago) is the new year for tithes and cattle, the 15^th of Shevat is the new year for trees, and the 1^st of Tishre is the New Year for counting years. 

We call this day the birthday of the world.  During the Musaf prayers we proclaim “HaYom Harat Olam”, on this day the world was born.  This presents the 1^st of Tishre as the first day of work on task of creating a universe.

I would note one dissenting midrash which suggests that this day is the birth of humanity, rather than the birth of the uninhabited universe.  In the Pesikta of Rav Kahana (B’Hodesh HaShevi’i) the claim is made that the world was begun on the 25^th of Elul and Adam was created on the 1^st of Tishre.  The midrash presents an hour by hour account of that day on which humans appeared.  In the view of this midrash the 1^st of Tishre marks the conclusion of the Genesis project and the world is no longer in production, but is ready to go.

Which notion do you prefer – that God began all of creation on this day or that this is the last day of the Genesis project?

There are a number of greetings used for the High Holy Days.  Here are three of the most common:

L’Shana Tova Tikateyvun – The basic meaning is “May you be inscribed for a good year (in the Book of Life).”  You often hear it shortened to L’Shanna Tova, but sometimes it is embellished with other adjectives such as L’Shanna tova u’metuka – To a good and sweet year.  This greeting fits best on Rosh HaShannah.

A second greeting you sometimes hear is K’tiva v’chatima tova, literally, “a good inscription and sealing for you.”  It is lousy English, but a good blessing.  The U’netane Tokef prayer declares that on this day God “records and seals, counts and measures; remembering even what we have forgotten… [God] reviews every living being, measuring the years and decreeing the destiny of every creature.”  This greeting, used most often during the Ten Days of Awe between Rosh HaShannah and Yom Kippur, echoes that prayer and wishes that you be inscribed in the Book of Life for another year. 

The final greeting is used most often on Yom Kippur.  G’mar Chatima Tova, meaning, “A good final sealing for you” also refers to the Book of Life.  The thought is that by Yom Kippur a first draft of the Book of Life has been completed, but it has not yet been sealed.  There is still time to affect the Divine judgment.  This greeting wishes you a secure place in the final draft of the book of Life.