Page 10 - Issue 31

A Chag by Any Other Name Would
Taste As Sweet

by Zach Pekarsky, Boger HDNA

Rosh haShana is known by many different

names, each reflecting different aspects of its
history, meaning, and traditions. I’d like to take
the time to reflect briefly on many of them.

Yom haDin (Day of Judgment): On this day,
Jewish tradition teaches that all of creation is
judged by the divine. So, too, leading up to the
chag, we are expected to do “cheshbon
ha’nefesh” – an accounting of the soul. Before
entering the Day of Judgment, we must first
honestly evaluate ourselves, our lives, our
actions, and our choices – in other words, our
dugma.

Yom Truah (Day of Blowing [the shofar]): This is
the biblical name for the chag. In the Torah,
Rosh haShana receives little attention and in
fact is seemingly inexplicable. It is only briefly
mentioned that there should be a celebration of

trumpeting on the first day of the seventh
month. I find it interesting to contrast the
historic priority of the chagim with the modern.
Our modern “High Holidays” were once an
afterthought compared to the agricultural
pilgrimages – Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot.