The Significance of Animals in the Jewish New Year Festivals
The name of the Rosh Hashana Jewish New Year festival includes the Hebrew word “Rosh”, meaning head or beginning. This signifies the beginning of the year and the festivals at the start of the year are like a command center for establishing awareness for the entire upcoming year. To prevent simply continuing routinely on from the previous year into the new one, there is specific preparation for the year to come. This invigorating process is for the Jewish people as a whole but also serves each individual on his/her personal journey as well. Every Israeli finds something that touches him/her during these festivals – some are drawn to the primeval sound of the shofar blowing; some are inspired by the prayer-filled day of Yom Kippur; and some feel very much at home inside the temporary sukkah. All of these are among the many expressions of this fundamental process that can be seen as three stages of mental calibration to prepare for the upcoming year. Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur and Sukkoth-Shmini Atzeret. Each one of these stages is deeply meaningful. The essence of each festival manifests in many ways, each of which provides a glimpse into the meaning of that particular festival. For example, each festival has its own prayers and mitzvahs. There are different Torah portions as well as unique flora and fauna items related to each festival and every festival has its own historical context. Each of these expressions reveals the internal process of that festival.
Animals are a recurring theme in these festivals, and they too reflect the essence thereof. The three main types of domesticated animals – sheep, goats and cows, are comparable to each of the holidays as well as to specific states of mind that exist in the human soul. The New Year festivals provide an opportunity to strengthen these three within ourselves and to devote them to a year filled with awareness and purposeful action.
Rosh Hashana (ram)
And remember to us Isaac’s ram
(from the blessings for the holiday)
The ram symbolizes the binding of Isaac and God’s mercy just before he was sacrificed, exchanging Isaac for a ram. The shofar, made from a ram’s horn, is blown on Rosh Hashana to inspire the soul to repent, pray and ask for God’s mercy.
Rosh Hashana is both the day of judgement and the day of crowning the God of Israel. On this day, people recognize the invisible King of the cosmos to whom they admit their actions. This reflects His majesty. As opposed to a human king who seeks power or taxes or land, God asks us to turn our hearts toward Him. The sheep is a symbol of devotion to the shepherd and it fits easily into the herd. On Rosh Hashana we are like the herd parading before Him. It is for good reason that the shofar is taken from this animal, to announce the majesty of God.
Yom Kippur (goat)
Thus the goat shall carry on it all their iniquities to an inaccessible region
(Leviticus 16:22)
The scapegoat was sent into the desert on Yom Kippur by the High Priest and flung from a high cliff, crashing on the hillside below.
Such actions symbolize atonement by distancing and detaching from sins amid the hope for a fresh start.
This is the day of divine decision in the sentencing that began on Rosh Hashana.
Yom Kippur is a day of mercy, a day on which God and humans recognize that we were created (by Him) with various inherent drives. We have in us both good and bad and thus ask for forgiveness. Due to its nature, the goat, a rebellious, bold and determined animal, is not easily herded like the sheep. At the height of this day, we do not ask to replace the goat with a docile sheep, as neither God nor we wish to forgo all of that might. Rather we want to cast away all the bad that is in our goat-like audacity and to devote all the good within us to God and to the world.
Sukkoth (bull)
Seventy bulls equal to whom? To seventy peoples
(Sukkah 55:72)
Bulls were sacrificed on each of the seven days of Sukkoth, 70 in total, to symbolize the 70 nations of the world.
Sukkoth is the only festival that mentions and invites all the world’s nations to take part and come to Jerusalem.
Sukkoth is a festival of joy, calm, serenity and a celebration of creation. It is no longer about penance, about clarifying or reinforcing the relationship between God and the world, but rather about coming together to celebrate. It is also an opportunity to invite others and open communication with the rest of the world, to invite the nations of the world to be partners in the connection between the divine and the human world. Especially at the start of the rainy season, which symbolizes the blessing received from the heavens. The cow represents fertility and it is the most beneficial animal for humans. To this day, cow’s milk, hide and meat comprise the largest part of these industries. We come together with the nations of the world in a celebration of fertility, blessing and joy, not war or alienation.
