This article is part of a newsletter sent out by Restorers of Zion which is an Israel-based ministry dedicated to serving the Body of Yeshua the Messiah in Israel. Although we have just celebrated this holiday, the information contained here is very illuminating and well worth reading. Enjoy.

As Rosh HaShana quickly approaches, I'm thinking a lot about the way Jewish tradition deals with this Biblical feast. It is regarded as one kind of "New Year" (there are 4 in the Jewish calendar), and the holiday has acquired many symbols over time that reflect this aspect (like eating apples dipped in honey, "for a sweet year"). But the Jewish people never lost sight of the original symbol of the holiday according to the Torah: the shofar. In modern Israel, the holiday is still known by the name "Yom Ha-Tru'ah", literally the "Day of the Blowing" (from Num.10:10). We read that this is a Day of Rest, Remembrance and Blowing ("Shabbaton Zicharon Tru'ah", Lev.23:24). What was to be remembered we are not told here, but Num.10:10 hints that this ceremonial blowing is not a reminder for us, but for G-d: "...and they [the trumpet blasts] shall be a reminder of you before the L-rd your God; I am the L-rd your God."

What is G-d Supposed to Remember on Rosh HaShana?

The odd idea that G-d, whose memory is utterly foolproof and whose faithfulness is beyond discussion, ought to be "reminded" of anything is brought up more often in Scripture than we might think. One of the best-known verses actually urges His people to be "noodniks" in reminding Him of one particular thing: "You who remind the L-rd, take no rest for yourselves, and do not let Him rest, until He establishes and until He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth." (Isa.62:6-7, literal Heb.)

So what is G-d reminded about us, or on our behalf, in the blowing of the shofar on this Feast? The Torah and Prophets don't say. But the Jewish sages incorporated their best understanding into the prayers for Rosh HaShana, and the implications are startling.

For example, here is part of the prayer of the Ba'al Toke'ah (the one designated to blow the shofar in the synagogue) before he performs this service during Tefilat Ha-Shaharit (the morning Amidah, or Standing Prayer). It can be found in the standard Israeli (Sephardi) prayerbook, and I've translated it straight from the Hebrew:

"May [my blowing of the shofar] fill You O G-d with compassion for Your people Israel, and may You look upon the ashes of Isaac our father who was bound on the altar... and remember today the binding of Isaac for his seed..."

The phrase which I've translated as "ashes of Isaac" here is "afro shel Yitzhak" in Hebrew. A strange choice of words!  If it were spelled with an ayin it would be "dust" ("efer"), which might refer to Isaac's remains resting in his grave. But here it is spelled with an aleph ("afer"), which forces us to think of burnt remains. Yet we (and the sages) know from Scripture that Abraham was stopped by the Angel of the L-rd before he actually made Isaac into a burnt offering. This aborted sacrifice is the main thing that we plead with G-d to "remember" when the shofar is blown, and yet the shofar itself symbolizes the ram that was burned in place of Isaac. So why doesn't it say the "afer [ashes] of the ram", rather than of Isaac?

Well, there may be a clue in the only other use of this Hebrew word. It is an obscure event in I Kings 20, where a prophet of G-d "disguised himself with a bandage" [Heb: vayit-hapess be-afer]. It's translated as "bandage" probably because we are told the prophet was wounded, but the real function of this "afer" was a mask - to cover his face and keep his audience from recognizing him (v.38, 41).

Could we have translated the prayer as: "look upon the covering disguise of Isaac"? When Isaac performed this veiled prophetic act of being bound on the altar "for his seed", wasn't he "a mask" for that unnamed Descendant?  Abraham recognized it as a future event when he named the place "the L-rd will provide" (or even better: "the L-rd will be seen" - Gen.22:14, Heb.). The actual "offering" is Isaac's substitute, symbolized by the ram's horn. But to be such a supremely effective offering - to have a claim on G-d's compassion for all time - this substitute would have to be more than the ordinary animal that replaced Isaac on that day. It could only be the one that "G-d Himself will provide" (and it would not be "a ram", but "the Lamb", as Abraham prophesied - Gen.22:8).

Would such a strong Messianic translation of this rabbinic prayer be stretching it? Maybe not, for the prayer of the Ba'al Toke'ah continues:

"...and in Your many mercies and great lovingkindness, rip all the curtains ("kol ha-mesachim" ) that are separating You from Your people until this very day."

This word "masach" is not used in Scripture for the ordinary curtain walls in the Tent of Meeting, but only for the "doorway" to the Tent (masach ha-petach - Ex.35:15) and the "veil" screening off the Holy of Holies (parochet ha-masach - Ex.35:12). And only the latter is explicitly described as something that separates (Ex.26:33), using the same Hebrew word as the prayer above. The later Temple furnishings retained that inner dividing curtain in spite of the wooden doors added to the Most Holy Place by King Solomon. We know this because the Parochet is mentioned in the Musaf prayers for Yom Kippur (Seder Ha-Avodah, the detailed description of the high priest's atonement service during Second Temple times).

Of course believers are more familiar with the New Covenant account of the traumatic and wonderful effect that the finished sacrifice of Messiah had on this same Parochet: "And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom." (Matt.27:51, Mark15:38, see also Luke 23:45). Heb.10:19-20 goes on to draw a parallel between this event and Yeshua Himself being torn, removing that which was separating us from G-d (our sins) and allowing us "to enter the holy place" and "draw near" to G-d in a way that was not possible until the "new and living way which He inaugurated through the veil, that is, His flesh" that was torn.

Look again at that peculiar rabbinic prayer.  What are the chances that its writer came up all by himself with the bizarre notion of G-d ripping the Temple veil - much less the idea that Him doing so would give us direct access to Himself?  Isn't it more likely that this prayer was written by a rabbinic follower of Yeshua, who had learned the profound rabbinic-style teaching in the book of Hebrews and saw a place to incorporate it? (How it came to be preserved in an orthodox Jewish prayerbook is food for thought, but this is not an isolated case.)

There are many pointed comments on Akedat Yitzhak (the Binding of Isaac) in the Rosh HaShana prayers. The unthinkable act of Abraham that defies all our rational ideas of "serving G-d", with the implied cooperation of Isaac, is not only accepted as a holy event, but is given extra prominence during this season - invading our comfort zones.  The Scripture reading for the first day of Rosh Hashana is the birth of Isaac according to G-d's promise, and the reading for the second day is the Akedah story in full... you can't avoid it. 

"Remember for us, O L-rd our God, the covenant and the lovingkindness and the oath that You swore to Avraham our father in Mount Moriah, and let appear before You the Binding which Avraham our father bound, his son Yitzhak on the altar... and it is not forgotten before the throne of Your glory, and the Binding of Yitzhak for his seed You will remember today in compassion. Blessed are You, O L-rd, who remembers the covenant." (part of the Areshet blessing)

Other intriguing references to the Akedah, found (like the above quote) in the first-day Musaf Amidah prayers, do not even mention Isaac and seem like riddles with no explanation:

"An only son that was judged by being bound,
His lambs in him will find favor from being judged,
Be it far from You, O G-d of judgment - remember -
He will not pass judgment.
And if they [the lambs] as Adam have transgressed the covenant,
Then O G-d, as G-d look upon the covenant."

"Our Lord will yet remember for us a love of great strength, and in the son who was bound He will cause judgment of us to cease, and in the merit of the innocent one [or, perfect one - "ha-Tam"] He will bring forth our judgment with awe to righteousness, for this day is holy to our Lord."

The most amazing find of all is so obscure it can be easily missed. It's a silent prayer recited after the first shofar blowing on the second-day morning service:

"May it be acceptable before You that the shofar blowing which we are performing [the notes] may be woven together in a curtain by the one designated [to blow the shofar], just as You received from the hand of Elijah of blessed memory and Yeshua Sar Ha-Panim and Prince Metatron, and be filled with compassion over us. Blessed are You, the Compassionate One."

This prayer, which pleads for G-d to accept our worship as He accepted these three, passes totally without comment.  NO explanation of who these are, who merit to be named together with the famed and righteous Elijah.  Yet their power of intercession is apparently so great that we can hope for G-d's compassion just by reminding Him of them.

The name of Yeshua is spelled here exactly as Hebrew-speaking believers spell it (yud, shin, vav, ayin). The phrase "Sar Ha-Panim" can be translated either as "the Minister of the Inner Place" [ie, the Place within the veil] or "Prince of the Face" -- either one an incredible tribute to Yeshua's place with the Father.  His name following that of Elijah marks Him unmistakably as Messiah Son of David, and His association with "Prince Metatron" is equally intriguing. (Metatron is a mysterious figure in the book of Enoch, thought by some to be an angel, identified by others as the Son of Man.  But Metatron, whoever He may be, is held in Jewish tradition to be as close a representation of G-d's Face as is possible, and in the corresponding prayer for the first day of Rosh HaShanah, it is Metatron who is called "Sar Ha-Panim".) 

If that is not enough, Elijah and Metatron (as Enoch) are agreed to have entered Heaven with bodies rescued from the power of death.  What then about this "Yeshua" who no one ever heard of before?

These examples are enough to raise sweet suspicions that the authors of the traditional Jewish prayers included at least a few followers of Yeshua - secret disciples, or maybe not so secret.... And what about those who are praying these prayers today? 

We can look forward to the day when G-d removes the partial blindness from the eyes of all who pray the holiday prayers (Rom.11:25). We can even help bring that day closer, by sharing these rabbinic curiosities with our observant Jewish friends and family.

Source: Restorers of Zion