Overview of the Three Fall Festivals
In the fall of the year, three of the seven, annual Jewish feasts are celebrated. These feast are Feast of Trumpets (Rosh HaShanah), Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) and Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot). This post is just an overview of all three feasts. If you want to journey deeper, there is a post for each individual feast with additional details. These three feasts all occur in the fall, in the month of Tishrei. The first feast, the Feast of Trumpets is called Rosh HaShanah and is the civil Jewish New Year. Rosh HaShanah literally means ‘head of the year’, because it is the beginning of the new year. Jewish tradition states that God created the heavens and the earth in the fall, on Rosh HaShanah.
The Feast of Trumpets starts on the first day of Tishrei and is a very solemn day. This feast begins a ten-day period called ‘the Days of Awe’. These ten days are a time of reflection, prayer and repentance, in preparation for Yom Kippur, which occurs ten days after Rosh HaShanah. The Jewish shofar (a ‘trumpet’ made from a ram’s horn) is blown as a ‘call to action’ for the people. The feasts of Rosh HaShanah and the Day of Atonement are called the ‘High Holy Days’ and are the most sacred of all the Jewish feasts. According to Jewish tradition, on Rosh HaShanah, God will judge each person for the way he lived during the past year. Based on this, God will write his name in one of three books: the Book of the Righteous, the Book of the Wicked and the Book of the In-Beween. During the ten Days of Awe, the Jews believe that if they humble themselves and truly repent, if their name was written in the Book of the In-Between, God may change his mind and then write his name in the Book of the Righteous. For a more in-depth teaching on the Feast of Trumpets, read the post concerning that specific feast. Many Christians believe that this feast is a prophetic feast which points to the future rapture of the Church. See the post on Rosh HaShanah for additional details.
The Day of Atonement is considered the most holy of all of the feasts. In the Old Testament (the Tankh) and during the time of Jesus, this was the only day of the year that the High Priest was allowed to enter the Holy of Holies. On this day, the High Priest would sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice on the Ark of the Covenant, to atone for the sins of the people. Each year, it was on this day that God decided if he would forgive the sins of the children of Israel for the past year. The current Jewish tradition teaches that this is the final judgement made by God for the past year. If your name was written in the Book of the In-Between, but you repented during the Days of Awe, God will write your name in the Book of the Righteous (at least for this year). For a more in-depth teaching on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, read the post concerning that specific feast. Many Christians believe that this feast is a prophetic feast which points to the Great White Throne Judgement. See the post on Yom Kippur for additional details.
The Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) is celebrated for seven days and is the most joyous feast of them all. There is also an eighth day which is celebrated at the conclusion of Sukkot. The Feast of Tabernacles is a time when Jewish people remember that their ancestors wandered in the desert for 40 years. This happened after they were delivered from slavery in Egypt and encountered God at Mount Sinai. Because the children of Israel did not believe they could conquer the giants, who lived in the promise land, they were forced to live in temporary tents for 40 years, in the wilderness. But, during that time, God’s presence could be seen as a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day, hovering over the Tabernacle (a portable tent) which Moses built. During the Feast of Tabernacles, the Jews build a temporary structure where they can eat their meals and possibly even sleep. This reminds them of the tents that their ancestors lived in, thousands of years ago. The temporary structure is called a ‘sukkah’ and the plural is ‘sukkot’, or tabernacles. See the post on Feast of Tabernacles for additional details.