The first and the second days of Tishri are kept as New-year. [131] In accordance with the command, “The first of the first-fruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the Lord thy God” (Exod. xxxiv. 26), we devote the first ten days of the year as an offering to the Lord; they are days of increased devotion, earnest self-examination, and new efforts to lead a good, virtuous, and godly life. They are called ‏עשרת ימי תשובה‎ “ten days of return” to God, or “ten penitential days.” We greet and congratulate each other on New-year, using the phrase, ‏לשנה טובה תכתב‎—or ‏לש׳ ט׳ תכחבי, תכתבו, תכתבנה‎ according as a male, a female, several males, or several females are addressed—“May you be inscribed for a happy year.” It is a figurative expression, borrowed from the writing and signing of decrees by earthly judges. In the Bible the Festival is not called New-year, [132] but ‏יום תרועה‎ “Day of blowing the shofar” (Num. xxix. 1); and ‏זכרון תרועה‎ “Memorial of the blowing of the shofar” (Lev. xxiii. 24); in our prayers the names ‏יום הזכרון‎ and ‏יום הדין‎ “Day of Remembering” and “Day of Judgment,” are also used. The first of these four names implies, according to the traditional interpretation, the commandment of blowing the shofar. As a rule the shofar is blown during the Morning Service before the sefer is returned to the Ark, and during Musaf. [133] The blowing of the shofar is expressed by ‏תרועה‎, which denotes the sound of an alarm; hence we learn that the shofar is intended to awaken us, and to call us forth to range ourselves under our banner. It is an ideal banner, the worship of God and faith in Him, that we are called upon to protect and to defend from enemies without and within. [134] Prominence is therefore given in our Service for New-year to the proclamation of God as King of the universe, and to our longing for the time when all mankind will unite in the worship of the One God. The name “Memorial of blowing the shofar” indicates that we are to remember some historical event suggested by the sound of the shofar. We are reminded of the period when the Israelites, encamped round Mount Sinai, on hearing the Divine message, “Ye shall be my peculiar people,” “a kingdom of priests,” and “a holy nation,” joyfully replied, “All that the Lord hath spoken we will do” (Exod. xix. 8). The shofar thus awakens us to greater watchfulness and activity in the purification and sanctification of our heart.