The Festival of Trumpets

In case you didn't already know, the three feasts described in Numbers 29 still occur today, and are as follows:

1st day of 7th month           Feast of Trumpets          Rosh Hashanah

10th day of the 7th month   Day of Atonement           Yom Kippur

15th day of 7th month         Feast of Tabernacles

Keep in mind, we're in year 40 of the Exodus, and it's been quite some time since the schedule and requirements of the feasts were laid out way back in Leviticus 23. Since I don't believe I've discussed it in this blog, this is a good time to explain some of the repetition we see in these readings.

Literacy, the ability to read and write, is a relatively recent phenomenon in world history. In societies that were primarily agrarian or hunter-gatherering, there's simply no time to develop these skills, let alone need. When virtually every moment of the day is required to provide food and the other necessities of life, what doesn't directly put food on the table becomes a luxury. Even in a more advanced society, literacy isn't necessary for a wide variety of everyday tasks, which makes learning it superfluous.

When a society isn't literate, that's PRECISELY when oral repetition becomes the standard method of imparting information. Our liturgy is a primary method of instilling basic messages, and for the people of Israel, repetition was the only way the rules and requirements of the Lord would be remembered. Of course, the one person talks-the other listens method of information conveyance is BY FAR the least efficient by just about every measure, but when it's all you have, it's better than nothing.

We have a hard time understanding this, particularly today when we can look up almost anything in a matter of seconds. Indeed, being able to recall knowledge has become less important than being able to retrieve it in modern society, but the people of Israel weren't that lucky. They needed to have it told to them, and since 40 years is a long time, had to have it told again and again.

Scott