ill gather all men and
nations by the trumpet-blasts of the Judgment Day at the end of time.

The main purpose of the New Year was to render it a day of renewal of the
heart, so that man might put himself in harmony with the great Judge on
high and receive life anew from His hand, while he fills his spirit with
new and better resolves for the future. Judaism does not place the day of
judgment after death, when repentance is beyond reach and the sinner can
only await damnation, as is done by Christianity after the apocalyptic
views adopted from the Parsees. The Jewish judgment day occurs at the
beginning of every year, a day of self-examination and improvement of men
before God. On this day--in the orthodox Synagogue on the second day of the
New Year--the chapter is read from the Torah describing Abraham's great act
of faith on Mount Moriah, the heroic pattern of Jewish martyrdom, and
stirring prayers, litanies, and songs prepare the worshiper for the "great
day" of the year, the Day of Atonement, which is to come on the tenth day
of Tishri, the last of the ten Days of Repentance.

13. The Day of Atonement figures in the Mosaic Code as the day when the
high priest in the Temple performed the important function of expiation
for the sanctuary, the priesthood, and the people. The mass of the people
were to observe the day from evening to evening as a Sabbath and a fast
day to obtain pardon for their sins before God.(1497) A very primitive
rite which survived for this day was the selection of two goats, one of
which was to be sent to Azazel, the demon of the wilderness, to bear away
the sins of the people, while the other was to be offered to the Lord as a
sacrifice. We learn from the Mishnaic sources that the sending forth of
the scapegoat was accompanied by strange practices betraying intense
popular interest, and its arrival at the bottom of the wild ravine, where
Azazel was supposed to dwell, was announced by signals from station to
station, until they reached the Temple mount, and the news of it was then
received with wild bursts of joy by the people. The young men and maidens
assembled on the heights of Jerusalem, like the men at the pilgrimage
feast at Shiloh, and held, as it were, nuptial dances.(1498) The day was
one of communion with God for the high-priest alone; he confessed his sins
and those of the people and implored forgiveness, and it was actually
believed that he beheld the Majesty of God on that day when he