In the Kabbalah, the words Rosh Hashanah have deeper shades of meaning than the customary translation of “beginning of the year,” or “new year.” Rosh means “beginning,” but shanah derives etymologically from shinui, “change” or... more
In the Kabbalah, the words Rosh Hashanah have deeper shades of meaning than the customary translation of “beginning of the year,” or “new year.” Rosh means “beginning,” but shanah derives etymologically from shinui, “change” or “transformation.” Rosh Hashanah then becomes “the beginning of transformation.” “Beginning” is in this sense then, an entry point, a portal or pivoting point on our journey toward fulfillment, whose goal is enlightenment—what Tzadok Hakohen and Mordechai Lainer call he’arah. For them, enlightenment is no less than the awakened state where man realizes his ontic identity with the divine. And, according to spiritual master Schneur Zalman of Liadi, this core transformation of man into God is both mystically symbolized and catalyzed by the Shofar ceremony.
