Next week, Israelis will celebrate the start of the Jewish New Year, also known as Rosh Hashana. This holiday marks not only the start of a new year on the Hebrew calendar. It also marks the beginning of the fall High Holy Days and the period known as the Days of Awe leading up to Yom Kippur – the Day of Atonement. Now the Lord actually gave the ancient Israelites two calendar years to follow. One is tied to the agricultural cycle in the Land of Israel and begins in the Spring with the first of Nisan, just two weeks before Passover. Meanwhile, the second calendar is more tied to the span of human history, and is said to date from the day when Adam became a living soul. And this more universal calendar begins with a trumpet blast on Rosh Hashana in which one awakens the soul to prepare to stand before the Lord our Maker. So just what is the biblical significance of Rosh Hashana? What are some of the traditions that have built up around the Jewish New Year? And is Rosh Hashana just for Jews? Or should Christians also be more aware of this biblical holiday and its deeper meaning? The Jewish New Year! That’s our focus this week here on Front Page Jerusalem. We’ll look at the meaning and traditions surrounding the biblical festival of Rosh Hashana – the start of the Jewish New Year. We’ll have a teaching on this special holiday by Dr. Juergen Buehler, the executive director of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem. And, we’ll also speak about Rosh Hashana with prominent Israeli Rabbi David Rosen – also known as the “Pope’s Rabbi.”
On this week’s program, we’re focusing on the upcoming holiday of Rosh Hashana, which Israelis will begin marking this coming Wednesday evening. This ancient biblical festival is also known as the Jewish New Year, and there are many customs and concepts attached to it which are also referred to in the New Testament. To open today’s program, we have biblical insights into Rosh Hashana from Dr. Juergen Buehler, the executive director of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, which produces this radio program.
Word From Zion
As Israelis began preparing for the Jewish New Year, Front Page senior producer David Parsons sat down with Rabbi David Rosen to talk about the unique beliefs and customs attached to the holiday of Rosh HaShana. From his office in Jerusalem, Rabbi Rosen oversees interfaith activities for the American Jewish Committee and has also served as a special religious advisor not only to the chief rabbis of Israel, but also to several recent popes in Rome.
Join hosts Earl Cox, Ben Kinchlow and David Parsons for this week’s Front Page Jerusalem, on a radio station near you or visit our website to download the MP3 and to subscribe to program podcasts
The Islamic State terror militia in Iraq and Syria has rocketed to the forefront of world concerns in recent weeks, with the United States frantically trying to put together an international coalition to combat its violent rise. But Washington is encountering a lot of reluctance among Western leaders, while regional players like Turkey and Qatar are also not willing to go along. Yet Egypt, Saudi Arabia and several other key Arab states are offering their cooperation, since they realize these jihadists are a threat to them as much as to the West. Now it’s unlikely that Israel also will be welcomed in as a full-fledged member of this new coalition against ISIS. Israel is a target itself of the militant Muslim group and the IDF is the strongest and most effective military force in the region to deal with it. The Israelis also are already sharing their first-rate intelligence on ISIS. But joining the coalition outright might complicate Jerusalem’s battle against other radical Muslim militias like Hamas and Hizbullah, as well as Iran’s growing nuclear threat. So which radical Islamic movements present the biggest threat to Israel right now? Should Israeli security planners still focus on traditional enemies such as Hamas and Hizbullah, or the new threat posed by the Islamic State terror militia? Is military might alone enough to contain the jihadists, or must there also be an ideological component to the Western campaign against radical Islam? And what role does Shi’ite Iran play in the long-term strategic picture in the region? Israel and the Islamist Threat! That’s our focus next week here on Front Page Jerusalem. We’ll look at the multiple challenges Israel faces from radical Muslim militias both old and new. Our guest will be Lt. Col. Reuven Ben Shalom, a retired Israeli air force pilot who serves today as a security analyst and advisor on counter-terrorism challenges in the Middle East. And on our Word From Zionsegment next week, we’ll look at how the fate of Jerusalem plays into radical Islamic thinking, as opposed to its biblical significance to Christians and Jews.
