Concept of yamim noraïm (Hebrew ימיםנוראים , " frightening days ") by Jewish sources medieval was developed distinct, to define three periods of close significance, but of different duration:
- with the restricted direction, it acts of the solemn festivals of the beginning of the Jewish calendar year, i.e. Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippour.
- in a broader direction, and more running, it is the ten days period since the Hebrew new year Rosh Hashana until the day of the Yom Kippour, also known like the ten days of penitence .
- to the full extent, one includes the days when one says the Seli' hot, i.e. since the beginning of the month of Eloul. This corresponds to the forty days spent by Moïse on the the Sinai to rewrite the Tables of the Law, following the sin of the Golden calf.
Origin of the concept
The word will nora (Hebrew נורא) means, in this context, apprehension, or the awakening of a respectful fear, and refers to the tradition of Israel according to which the celestial court sits in these days, giving its judgment as for the destiny of each one.
In the Hebraic Bible, the epithet Nora is often associated with God:
- Psalms 47:3: " Because the Eternal, the Almighty, is frightening ( will nora ) "
- Judges 13:6: " A man of God came towards me, and his aspect, as the aspect of God was very-frightening ( will nora meod ) '".
Other characteristics of these days
The Frightening Days have, from time immemorial, considering the greatest annual multitude of Jews to the Synagog. In the responsa of the Tzemah Tzedek (Even HaEzer 117) a case of doubt is presented as weddings which would have been held when the penitent ones would have gone downtown in the honor of Yamim Noraïm, in order to be able to constitute a Minyan. In another responsum of the same author (Ora' H Hayim 20), he is discussed of the pressure (due to the multitude) in the 'Ezrat haNashim (area of the Temple reserved to the women) at that time.
He is as stipulated in the Halakha as when there is a restricted minyan (i.e. composed of ten people hardly), it is interdict at the time of Yamim Noraïm to conceal itself with the obligation to take part in the minyan, or to rent somebody so that he takes part in it in his place, so that he takes part in the minyan. (Shoulhan Aroukh HaRav, Ora' H Hayim 55)
From aucuns distinguish between the celebrations mentioned in the Torah like Frightening Jours (Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippour), during which the faith wakes up in the tears and the bitterness, and celebrations of the " Days of Joie" (Three Festivals), during which the faith wakes up in the joy and the dances.
The Frightening Days have their own liturgy, as well in the Lecture of the Torah as in that of the prayers.
Definitions of the days having this statute
According to certain sources, the concept of Yamim Noraïm includes seulememt Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippour:
- thus majority of the " prayers of the Redoutables" Days; only these two festivals concern, without same mentioning the prayers for the intermediate days
- it is written in Aroukh HaShoul' han (Ora' H Hayim 191:4) that the endeuillé cannot request at the time of the Frightening Days in front of the foule; while comparing with the Mishna will beroura , it appears that it is only about Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippour
- Hermann Cohen, quoted in the Sefer haMo' adim : " Rosh Hashana is related to Yom HaKippourim… These two celebrations, called Yamim Noraïm… "
Other sources, like the Maharil , include in these days the days of recitation of the Selihot. Thus, in its Sefer haMinhaguim, " at the time of each year, at the end of the month of Eloul, the days of Selihot of Yamim Noraïm begin the first etc." day; le Maguen Avraham is even more explicit: " נראהדמיוםראשוןשלסליחותואילךמיקריימיםנוראיםלכל… ". -->
In the broadest significance, Yamim Noraïm include:
- days of recitation of the Selihot before Rosh Hashana;
- Rosh Hashana even;
- Ten days of penitence, also called Bein kissè lè' assour (between the throne and the tenth);
- the Shabbat falling into this period, called shabbat shouva (if one the two days of Rosh Hashana falls Shabbat, as it was in particular the case in 2006, the shabbat shouva is that of the following week , that is to say 6th or the 7th day of penitence). The Haftara of the day (Dared 14:2 - 10) starts with the words " שובהישראלעדה ' אלוהיך ". (Shouva Israel 'AD Hashem Elohekha -- Turn over, Israel, in Hashem your God). He is of habit for the rabbi to launch out in this day in long a Drasha centered on forgiveness and the repentance;
- Hoshanna Rabba : certain habits of this day resemble those of Yamim Noraïm, in particular the use of melodies of Rosh Hashana in the prayers.
It also happens that those which use the term of did not define the direction. For example, in the Shoul' han Aroukh HaRav (Ora' H Hayim 88), Rav Shneour Zalman written: " And in Yamim Noraïm, of the first day of Selihot and beyond… " , from where inférer could that it includes the days of Selihot in Yamim Noraïm; however, he writes earlier (Ora' H Hayim 6): " Consequently, which one with the practice to make at the time of the Days of Selihot and Yamim Noraïm, etc." , from where it seems to define Yamim Noraïm like equivalents in the Asseret Yemei Teshouva (except for Shabbat Shouva, Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippour, since one there known as step Selihot).
In Hebrew modern , the Frightening Days is generally synonymous with the Ten days of penitence, and thus the Israeli Minister of education defines it (אתרהרשמישלמשרדהחינוך: " Yamim noraïm - it is by this name that one indicates the days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippour (of the 1st Tishri to the 10 Tishri). "
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