I recently read a weblog regarding some of the background behind the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah, which has started already. The woman posting the information is a Christian and apparently celebrates this holiday. Here are some of the links she provided, as well as the questions I posed to her, out of curiosity. (I haven't received a response yet.) If any of you can help me answer those questions, then I'd appreciate it!

http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday2.htm
http://roshhashanah.torah.org/
http://www.netglimse.com/holidays/rosh_hashanah/
http://ohr.edu/yhiy/article.php/1181

Here is what I wrote to her:

"Thanks for sharing that information about Rosh Hashanah. Those links were very detailed and helpful.

I have a few questions that you might be able to help me find the answers to.

Are the customs and backgrounds of Rosh Hashanah mainly derived from rabbinical traditions (and not Scripture)? The only real passage I was able to find that dealt with the feast (sacred assembly) was in Leviticus 23:24-25 and it didn't appear very detailed, nor did it refer to it by the name we're calling it here. If you celebrate this, do you just do it with your family, or do you meet with many others? Can it be considered an "assembly" if it is just a few people?

The Leviticus text also sets forth a day of rest, with it being the first day of the seventh month, along with doing no regular work and presenting a burnt offering. This brings me to two more questions:

1.) I read, just as you have written, that Rosh Hashanah is a celebration of a new year. Do you know the reasons behind celebrating the new year at the beginning of the seventh month, instead of the first? Is it just tradition derived from the Mishnah and elsewhere?

2.) Does anyone present an offering by fire (or burnt offering) when celebrating?

Thanks for reading and for your help!"

As an after-thought, I wonder if the seventh month has anything to do with the symbolism and significance of the number seven; the creation was whole and complete by the seventh day on which God "rested"; seven represents perfection or completion in Jewish tradition.

What do you guys think? I don't know very much about the Jewish system of dating, but I know that their calendar is different than ours.