The verse from Leviticus 23:24 sets the stage: "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: In the seventh month, on the first of the month, shall be a rest for you, a remembrance by means of a blast, a holy convocation." It's this "seventh month, first of the month" that sparks the discussion in Vayikra Rabbah 29, our source for today's story. The text immediately links this to Psalm 119:89: “Forever, Lord, Your word stands in the heavens.” There's a sense here that the timing is divinely ordained, immutable.
Rabbi Eliezer, a prominent sage of the first and second centuries, offers a radical idea: the world was created on the twenty-fifth of Elul. Now, Elul is the month before Tishrei. And Rav, a Babylonian sage, seems to agree. His tekiata, a liturgical composition recited with the shofar blasts on Rosh Hashanah, declares: "This day is the beginning of Your works, a commemoration of the first day." So, if the world was created right before Rosh Hashanah, celebrating the New Year in Tishrei suddenly makes a lot more sense, doesn't it?
But it's not just about remembering creation. Rosh Hashanah, according to this Midrash, is also a day of judgment. The text states, "Regarding the countries, it will be said: Which is for the sword and which is for peace, which is for famine and which is for plenty. The people will be remembered on it, to be ascribed for life or for death." Heavy stuff, right? It paints a picture of God assessing the fate of nations and individuals.
And then comes the truly captivating part: a detailed, almost cinematic, account of Adam's creation and judgment on Rosh Hashanah. We’re told that in the first hour of the day, the thought of creating humankind entered God’s mind. In the second, God consulted with the angels. Dust was gathered in the third hour, kneaded in the fourth, shaped in the fifth. By the sixth hour, Adam was a lifeless body. The seventh hour saw the breath of life enter him. The eighth, Adam was brought to the Garden of Eden. The ninth, he was commanded (presumably regarding the Tree of Knowledge – though the text mentions the Tree of Life), and in the tenth, he transgressed. By the eleventh hour, Adam was judged, and in the twelfth, he emerged with a pardon.
Talk about a busy day!
God then says to Adam: "This is a portent for your descendants. Just as you stood trial before Me this day and emerged with a pardon, so your descendants are destined to stand trial before Me on this day and emerge before Me with a pardon." When? "In the seventh month, on the first of the month" – Rosh Hashanah.
Think about that for a moment. This Midrash presents Rosh Hashanah not just as a day of judgment, but as a day of potential pardon. A chance to start anew, just like Adam. The day we remember not just the creation of the world, but also the possibility of our own re-creation, our own transformation.
So, as we hear the shofar blast on Rosh Hashanah, perhaps we can hear not just a call to remembrance, but also an echo of that first day of creation, the day of Adam's judgment and ultimate pardon. A reminder that even after transgression, even after judgment, there is always the possibility of renewal, of a fresh start, in the seventh month, on the first of the month.