23:23-26 records that the first day of the seventh month, which today we call Rosh Hashanah, is a mikra' kodesh. Why is the first day of the seventh month a mikra kodesh? The most popular answer is that the day marks the beginning of the year, but this idea is absent from the Torah.
The only clue the Torah gives us to understand the nature of Rosh Hashanah is that on this day there should be a commemoration with loud blasts, zikhron teru'ah. What is the point of these blasts? Levine (1989, p. 160) argues that the blasts were to announce the forthcoming pilgrimage festival, the festival of Sukkot. The people would hear the blasts and they would be reminded of the upcoming festival and its pilgrimage requirements. However, as Yom Kippur, which is on the tenth of the month, precedes Sukkot, the fifteenth of the month, it more likely that the announcement should be for Yom Kippur.
There are three indications in the Torah that Rosh Hashanah is to prepare the people for Yom Kippur. One, the text connects Rosh Hashanah with Yom Kippur by using the word, 'akh, in 23:27, which connects the two sections. (Also in 23:39, the word connects the two sets of laws of Sukkot. Similarly, in Shemot 31:13, the word connects the Shabbat to the building of the tabernacle, and in Shemot 12:15, it connects the destruction of the leaven with the eating of the unleavened bread.) Two, as noted by Hoffmann, every festival in chapter 23 begins with the phrase, "the Lord spoke to Moshe, speak to the Israelites", but by Yom Kippur, only the phrase "the Lord spoke to Moshe" appears. The omission of the second half of the phrase limits the break between the section on Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah. Three, it is logical that Yom Kippur requires an announcement, as 23:29-30 record that the penalty for violating the laws of Yom Kippur is very severe and this holiday occurs on the tenth of the month which cannot be simply calculated by looking at the moon.
This idea that Rosh Hashanah is to prepare for Yom Kippur also corresponds to the later idea that the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, are the ten days of repentance.
Bibliography:
Levine, Baruch A., 1989, Leviticus: The JPS Torah Commentary, Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society.
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