Happy New Year!

What? That's right. Two of my professors so far have ended their most recent classes with this phrase. This is because Wednesday night marks the beginning of Rosh Hashanah, today celebrating the rolling over the secular Jewish calendar. This is the modern form of the Biblical "Feast of Trumpets" which you can find in Leviticus 23 and Numbers 29. Far from the celebration we picture on December 31, this is a more solemn festival as the blowing of the trumpets call the people to confession. While it is different for us to celebrate the new year now, I thought about how appropriate this is as my school year is just a week old. In fact, my well-loved colleagues and students began another year of school today. The typical greeting on Rosh Hashanah is "L'Shanah Tovah" ("for a good year") which is the shortened form of "May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year." As I'm learning in class, anytime the word "good" shows up, it's significant. We think of "good" and view it as the lesser form of "great" (I'd rather be a great student than a good student). But among people here, "good" always brings them back to the perfection of Genesis 1. God saw that it was good. So as the year begins in many ways, I think it's appropriate to examine our hearts before God, to confess our sins knowing that he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us (1 John 1:9). L'Shanah Tovah!