Rosh Hashanah

(כד) דַּבֵּ֛ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לֵאמֹ֑ר בַּחֹ֨דֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִ֜י בְּאֶחָ֣ד לַחֹ֗דֶשׁ יִהְיֶ֤ה לָכֶם֙ שַׁבָּת֔וֹן זִכְר֥וֹן תְּרוּעָ֖ה מִקְרָא־קֹֽדֶשׁ׃

Leviticus 23:24

(24) Speak unto the children of Israel, saying: In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, shall be a solemn day of rest for you, a memorial day with blasting of horns, a holy gathering day.

במדבר כ״ט:א׳

(א) וּבַחֹ֨דֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִ֜י בְּאֶחָ֣ד לַחֹ֗דֶשׁ מִֽקְרָא־קֹ֙דֶשׁ֙ יִהְיֶ֣ה לָכֶ֔ם כָּל־מְלֶ֥אכֶת עֲבֹדָ֖ה לֹ֣א תַעֲשׂ֑וּ י֥וֹם תְּרוּעָ֖ה יִהְיֶ֥ה לָכֶֽם׃

Numbers 29:1

(1) And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a holy gathering: you shall do no manner of work; it is a day of blowing the horn for you.

ישעיהו כ״ז:י״ג

(יג) וְהָיָ֣ה ׀ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֗וּא יִתָּקַע֮ בְּשׁוֹפָ֣ר גָּדוֹל֒ וּבָ֗אוּ הָאֹֽבְדִים֙ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ אַשּׁ֔וּר וְהַנִּדָּחִ֖ים בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם וְהִשְׁתַּחֲו֧וּ לַיי בְּהַ֥ר הַקֹּ֖דֶשׁ בִּירוּשָׁלִָֽם׃

Isaiah 27:13

(13) And it shall come to pass on that day, That a great horn shall be sound out; And those who were lost in the land of Assyria, And those who were dispersed in the land of Egypt, shall come home; And they shall worship the Holy One in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.

ראש השנה י״א א:ג׳

תניא ר"א אומר מנין שבתשרי נברא העולם שנאמר (בראשית א, יא) ויאמר אלהים תדשא הארץ דשא עשב מזריע זרע עץ פרי איזהו חדש שהארץ מוציאה דשאים ואילן מלא פירות הוי אומר זה תשרי ואותו הפרק זמן רביעה היתה וירדו גשמים וצימחו שנא' (בראשית ב, ו) ואד יעלה מן הארץ

Rosh Hashanah 11a:3

The Gemara explains these matters in detail: It is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Eliezer says: From where is it derived that the world was created in the month of Tishrei? As it is stated: “And God said: Let the earth bring forth grass, herb yielding seed, and fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind” (Genesis 1:11). Which is the month in which the earth brings forth grass and the trees are full of ripe fruit? You must say that this is Tishrei. And a further proof that the world was created in Tishrei is that when the world was first created, it needed rain so that the plants would grow, and the period beginning with Tishrei is a time of rain, and rain fell and the plants grew, as it is stated: “But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground” (Genesis 2:6).

ראש השנה י״א א:ד׳

ר' יהושע אומר מנין שבניסן נברא העולם שנא' (בראשית א, יב) ותוצא הארץ דשא עשב מזריע זרע ועץ עושה פרי איזהו חדש שהארץ מליאה דשאים ואילן מוציא פירות הוי אומר זה ניסן ואותו הפרק זמן בהמה וחיה ועוף שמזדווגין זה אצל זה שנאמר (תהלים סה, יד) לבשו כרים הצאן וגו'

Rosh Hashanah 11a:4

Rabbi Yehoshua says: From where is it derived that the world was created in the month of Nisan? As it is stated: “And the earth brought forth grass, herb yielding seed after its kind, and tree yielding fruit” (Genesis 1:12). Which is the month in which the earth is full of grass and the trees begin to bring forth fruit? You must say that this is Nisan. And further proof that the world was created in Nisan is that when the world was first created, the animals had to breed in order to fill the world, and the period beginning with Nisan is a time when cattle, and beasts, and birds mate with one another, as it is stated: “The flocks are clothed in the meadows, and the valleys are wrapped in grain; they shout for joy, they also sing” (Psalms 65:14).

Ismar Schorsch (former Chancellor of JTS) on Parashat Tzav

...The existence of two new years, then, echoes the long-forgotten debate of R. Eliezer and R. Yehoshua. What united them is that neither rabbi called for the adoption of a calendar with but a single new year. They argued over which was primary and which secondary. To its credit, Judaism incorporated both. The newer holy days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur did not overwhelm the older pilgrimage festival of Passover. Together, both sacred seasons express the fullness of human need. In the spring, we join with family and friends to celebrate the rebirth of our people. Nature and history converge in a burst of new vigor, hope and creativity. We have a need to belong, to attach our lives to something greater and more lasting than ourselves, to find meaning beyond the self.

But the self is not to be denied. It must find some sacred solitude within the totality of community and peoplehood. And so we gather again in the fall against the backdrop of a natural world that is beginning to wither in order to contemplate what the passage of time means in our own lives.

As in so many other areas, Judaism strives for balance, keeping polarities in creative tension. The phenomenon of two new years, focused on the nation and the individual and promoting the values of particularism and universalism, is not an isolated instance. Judaism offers an unending dialectic between polarities such as priest and prophet, law and psalmody, a written Torah and an oral one-- or better yet, a canon without closure, halakkah and aggadah, rationalism and mysticism and the centrality of the land of Israel and the accommodation to life in exile. In sum, Judaism is a glorious prism that refracts God's light in a rainbow of human expressions.

Understanding the Text: How does Rabbi Schorsch help us understand what it means to live with two new years? Can you explain what he means by the New Year of Nisan being focused on the particular and the Rosh Hashanah in Tishrei focusing on the Universal?

Considering the Impact of the Text: How do you find resonance in having two New Years so central to Jewish life, and four new years described in the totality of our tradition? What meaning do you give to Nisan vs Tishrei? How will this new insight impact your holidays this year?