Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur - Jewish New Year and Day of Atonement

The week's reading on John the Baptist and the baptism of Jesus raised questions about baptism, repentance, and forgiveness...which led to some questions about the upcoming Biblical Holidays - Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year (September 29-October 1 this year), followed quickly by Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement (October 8-9 this year). This post is intended to share some information and links that might enlighten our thinking about these matters.

In the Jewish New Testament Commentary, David H. Stern tells us that in Old Testament Judaism:

"Ritual purity could be lost in many ways; the preeminent way of restoring it was through washing." (page 15)

And so...

"A person who immerses himself participates in an obvious yet living metaphor of purification, with the water, as it were, washing away the impurity. Here Yochanan [John] the Immerser [Baptist] proclaims for the old practice of immersion a new context, cleansing from a life pattern of sin." (page 15)

So, we see that baptism was not a foreign concept to John's audience, though John may have been introducing a new take on it. Nor were repentance or confession new concepts. Yom Kippur/The Day of Atonement continues as a particular time when the Jewish people fast and recite prayers of confession. In current tradition, the 40 days prior to Yom Kippur are days of self-examination, reflection, with an eye toward change in the coming year. In this way, the relationship between the New Year (Rosh Hashanah) and Yom Kippur are not all that different from the way that we, who follow the Gregorian calender, commonly follow our New Year with resolutions.

For good explanations of any of the Jewish or Biblical holidays I recommend:
https://hebrew4christians.com/Holidays/holidays.html - This site offers a Christian perspective by very dear friends of mine.
The following sites are excellent resources from a Jewish perspective:
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/category/celebrate/
https://www.chabad.org/holidays/default_cdo/jewish/holidays.htm