Yom Teruah (Day of Blowing/Blasting/Loud Noises with the Breath) is arguably the loudest of YHVH’s appointed times, and yet, it receives very little “noise” and attention itself. And why should it? Yom Teruah is a holy day that lasts only a day, has very little said about it in the Scriptures, and doesn’t seem to connect to a specific Biblical event. Plus, its proximity to Sukkot tends to cause Yom Teruah to retreat in to the shadows of one’s thoughts.
But for our family, Yom Teruah is a day of great praise and excited expectation in the Most High! Consider that Yom Teruah being on the first day of the seventh month is a Rosh Chodesh, or head of a month. Historically, watchmen intently surveyed the sky for the sliver of the new moon, knowing that they have but a few minutes to sight it before its descent past the horizon. They— nor any man— knows when the new moon will appear, and so they stay alert. They gaze with anticipation at the heavens and focus steadfastly on their mission. When at last, on some day, at some hour, the new moon is sighted and the leaders at Jerusalem confirm the witnesses’ sighting, the shofar blasts from hilltop to hilltop, resounding throughout all the land of Israel, to proclaim the beginning of a new month.
Imagine that while the shofar still echoes throughout the land, the sound of two trumpets of silver also blast forth! They trumpet over the offerings (Numbers 10:10), and on this holy day, there are triple the offerings: offerings for it being Yom Teruah, offerings for it being a head of a month, and the continual offerings of morning and evening (Numbers 29:1-6)! Truly, Yom Teruah is “a day of blowing and blasting to us” (Numbers 29:1)!
Scripturally, the blowing of the trumpets and the shofar are a sound to gather in YHVH’s presence, a sound of gladness and praising, a sound of victory in battle accompanied by great shouts, a sound of remembering YHVH and recalling His mighty acts, while on the other hand, a sound to be remembered by YHVH (Numbers 10:3, 9-10, Joshua 6:5, 2 Chronicles 5:13– and more!). Prophetically, they are the sound of our Savior Yeshua’s return (1 Thessalonians 4:16)!
And this is the sound YHVH intended to be reverberating in the hearts and ears of His people all the first day of the seventh month. I hear it in my spirit, and it excites me! What a day! What a day of rejoicing and praising and remembering and looking forward to is Yom Teruah!
In addition to keeping Yom Teruah as a Sabbath, blowing our shofar incessantly, and publicly gathering to read Torah (Leviticus 23:24), here are 5 other meaningful and fun ways our family celebrates Yom Teruah (most years!):
1. We look for the moon! As the moon of the sixth month wanes and darkens, our family eagerly watches the sky to catch sight of the the youngest moon possible of the seventh month. We watch and wait in faith that the renewed moon will appear, and when we sight it, we blast the shofar! The very act of looking to the heavens with expectancy is such a striking symbolism of excitedly anticipating the return of our Messiah and the gathering of His people.
2. We praise YHVH with Psalms! The Psalms are filled with praise for the Most High, and I love entering into Yom Teruah with them! As the sun sets, entering into Yom Teruah, our family lifts up Psalms 47, 98, and 148 with great enthusiasm in praise to our King. We clap our hands. We shout! We sing. We blow the shofar, and we sometimes use homemade instruments. We have a wonderful time of rejoicing! (We have chosen these three Psalms for our family’s celebration dinner, but many other Psalms are also fitting for Yom Teruah, and we will read or sing several more Psalms throughout the day.)
3. We eat autumnal foods by oil lamp light at a celebratory dinner! A theme that resonates with our family during Yom Teruah is to be watchful of the seasons, to be aware, awake, and sober so that we are not caught unaware or unprepared at Messiah’s return (Matthew 24-25, 1 Thessalonians 5). Eating seasonal foods by oil lamp light at our Yom Teruah dinner is an object lesson in the physical that accentuates this spiritual theme to all of us, even to our youngest, and naturally invites conversation about watching the seasons, being filled with the Spirit and prepared for Messiah’s return, and trimming the “wicks of our hearts.” Our Yom Teruah menu varies from year to year, but I choose ingredients that I can harvest from my garden or are in season locally. Apples, pears, butternut and acorn squash, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, onions, brussel sprouts, and corn are all foods I have included at our Yom Teruah meal.
4. We braid “crown challah!” Challah is completely traditional, but so beautifully braided that we include it at most Shabbats and appointed times. For Yom Teruah, however, we braid a crown challah, which is challah braided in a circular fashion, to represent our King and His return (Revelations 19:16)!
A simple, child friendly way to make crown challah is with the coil method. Lay out challah dough on a floured surface and divide into equal balls. Roll each ball into an elongated rope shape. Coil the rope into itself (to form a spiral). Follow your recipe’s instructions for egg or milk washes, proofing, and baking. Then, enjoy your crown challah!
5. We sing around a campfire! The word “teruah” has the root of “ruach,” meaning “breath.” In Scripture, this word is used to refer to loud noises made with the breath. At times, this can mean shouting, at other times, it refers to using a trumpet or shofar. For a long time, our family did not own a shofar, and so with the exception of blowing on a few DIY paper shofars, we sang! We sang loudly! Now that we have a shofar, the singing hasn’t ended. Because Yom Teruah occurs in the late summer or fall, we like to build a campfire and worship the Most High in song, as we sit gathered around it. It’s simple, but a special part of our Yom Teruah celebrations.
Our family has a rambunctious, loud, delightful time worshiping and rejoicing in the King during Yom Teruah! What a rich and blessed day YHVH has made for us. Now let’s lift up some noise about it and spread the joy of Yom Teruah with others!
Shalom!
Raquel
Women Living Torah 
Is there way to get a printable version of this? Emailed you at your pronto mail a few moments ago about tzitzit…..
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I do not have a printable of it; however, you could just print the article or it was published in Torah Sisters magazine. If you purchase the fall feast edition, it’ll be in there! Also— I hope I answered your comment about tzitzit. We switched cell phone providers, & now I don’t have a data connection on my phone, except for in town or very early hours of the morning (while I’m sleeping, usually). I’ve been trying to play catch up when I do go into town.
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