Archive for the ‘Biblical Festivals’ Category
The 10th day of the 7th month on the Hebrew calendar is called Yom Kippur in the Bible–literally “a day of covering.” The covering refers quite directly to the forgiveness of sins. In ancient times, first in the Tent or Tabernacle, and in later centuries in both the First and the Second Jewish Temples, elaborate and special ceremonies were carried out on this day. The High Priest, once a year on this day, entered into the inner room of the Temple called the Holy of Holies, where the ark or of the covenant or “testimony,” was housed. This is the chest that held the stone tablets upon which was inscribed the “Ten Words,” or Ten Commandments. These ceremonies are described in Leviticus 16.
Since the days of the 2nd Temple, which the Romans destroyed in 70 CE, Yom Kippur has continued to be observed by Jews worldwide all through the centuries. Indeed, it is considered the holiest and most solemn day of the year. It has essentially come to be understood as a day of Atonement. The word Atonement, literally, “At-One-Ment” is the day Jews and Torah believers want to be at one and at peace with their heavenly Judge. Heshbon HaNefesh, is the Hebrew term for “an accounting of one’s life” and this is the prerequisite for entering into G-d’s redemptive plan for the past year and beginning the new year with a clean, pure slate. This is the day of being inscribed in the “Book of Life.” It is a day of individual and collective Acknowledgment of sins, Repentance, and Redemption, all steps which lead to G-d’s forgiveness and reconciliation. Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the Jewish calendar and though these three steps seem easy and simple enough, they are interwoven over a period of 10 days (known as the Asseret Y’mey T’shuvah, or 10 days of repentance) into a tapestry which is given in order to allow us to ask for forgiveness from our friends, acquaintances, and family as well as from G-d. Atonement is the goal on this day of “last chance” as G-d finalizes His judgment.
Some believers emphasize confession; Jews emphasize repentance. Confession admits a wrong. Repentance, to be accepted, requires a commitment to change. To confess without change is to accept evil as unalterable behavior. Repentance or Teshuvah is the total reversal of behavior in order to receive redemption. Leviticus 23:27 instructs us to “afflict our soul” which simply says to deny ourselves of food, drink, sex, work or any activity which would divert our attention from meditation and focusing on the sins we’ve committed during the past year. Yom Kippur is called “the Sabbath of Sabbaths” in the Torah. It is set apart as is the weekly Sabbath to emphasize introspection, self-evaluation, and on trying to figure out the meaning and purpose of our lives. Reconciliation with G-d and mankind is paramount to having our names written in the Book of Life and having the seals affixed for the coming year.
Leviticus 16:22 describes how the High Priest performed sacred rites during Yom Kippur which included having a lottery to choose two goats: one consecrated to G-d; the other the Azazel goat. The High Priest confessed the sins of Israel on the Azazel-goat and set it free in the wilderness so that it “shall carry on it all their iniquities to an inaccessible region”. The goat consecrated to G-d was offered on the altar as a purification offering.
In Rabbinic literature, Yom Kippur is given an additional name, Yom HaDin, or Day of Judgement and is a fasting holiday of epic proportions. This should be a festival without food. The fast for this day is biblically mandated and is an act of self-denial. This is the designated day to nourish our souls and not our bodies. The words of Isaiah are read in every congregation: “Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the fetters of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? Is it not to deal your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor that are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that you cover him, and that you hide not yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth as the morning, and your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your reward.” (Isaiah 58:6-8)
Finally, on Yom Kippur, the shofar is blown just once, one long blast at the very end of the holiday. Thus a new year begins and the sages have proclaimed that the day after Yom Kippur is when we are the cleanest and purest of the entire year.
Rebecca Buntyn
This fascinating piece by Bruce Feiler is well worth reading and including in your family Thanksgiving table discussion today…Best wishes to all!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-feiler/how-moses-created-thanksg_b_787077.html?ref=fb&src=sp
Hollywood is rediscovering the Bible.
Two rival films about Moses, both by established producers, are vying to become the next chapter of the century-long love affair between the merchants of sin in Tinsletown and the prophet of hope in Israel. But no matter how far the filmmakers stretch their story, there are unlikely to reach the least known but perhaps most influential impact of Moses today: He is the Patron Saint of Thanksgiving.
The real story of Thanksgiving has surprising biblical roots. A few years ago, I set out on a 10,000-mile journey through the hidden symbols of American life that became the basis for my book, America’s Prophet: How the Story of Moses Shaped America. My journey began on a visit to Plymouth, Mass., where I boarded a replica of The Mayflower. A re-enactor was reading from the Bible. “Exodus 14,” he explained. “The Israelites are trapped in front of the Red Sea, and the Egyptians are about to catch them. ‘Hold your peace!’ Moses says. The Lord shall fight for you.’ Our leader read us that passage during our crossing.”
I hadn’t ever associated the biblical prophet with this most American holidays, but his fingerprints are all over our turkeys. How did this happen? How did a 3,000-year-old story become the inspiration for a contemporary American national holiday?
The answer begins with the Protestant Reformation. All through the Middle Ages, Catholics were not allowed to read the Bible directly, but the Reformation, coupled with the printing press, brought vernacular Bibles into the hands of everyday believers. Many of those believers were Protestants who felt oppressed by the Church. They related to the story of the Israelites, the descendants of Abraham who were enslaved in Egypt around 1200 B.C., were set free by Moses, then set out for the Promised Land.
The Pilgrims, a band of Protestant outcasts, saw themselves as fulfilling this biblical story. In coming to the New World, they, too, had to cross a tumultuous sea, arrive in an untested wilderness and create a new “Promised Land.” As a result, when they set sail on The Mayflower in 1620, they described themselves as the chosen people fleeing their pharaoh, King James. On the Atlantic, their leader, William Bradford, proclaimed their journey to be as vital as “Moses and the Israelites when they went out of Egypt.” And when they got to Cape Cod, they thanked God for letting them pass through their fiery Red Sea.
The pilgrims were so enamored of Moses, the Bibles they brought with them were emblazoned with pictures of Moses on the title page, and they named their children biblical virtues like Fear, Patience and Wrestling, as in “Wrestling with God,” the English translation of Israel.
As Peter Gomes, the preacher of Harvard told me, “They weren’t trying to recreate the biblical narrative. They were trying to fulfill it.” Because of them, the story of Moses became the story of America.
And because of the biblical roots of this most secular of American holidays, if your gathering threatens to descend into a familiar fracas among different faiths, factions and political persuasions, Moses, precisely because he has been used by believers and non-believers alike, Republicans and Democrats, Jews, Catholics and Protestants, may be the one figure who can unite the family and allow them all to enjoy their pumpkin pie.
This entry is part of a series, “This Month in Moses,” chronicling the 400-year relationship between the United States and “America’s Prophet.” For more information, and to read the entire series, visit Bruce Feiler’s website, or follow him on Twitter.
Tonight begins the Jewish festival popularly known Sukkoth, the “feast of huts” or booths. The King James Version translated it as the “Feast of Tabernacles,” and that is how many Christians who observe it in some fashion refer to it most often today.
What is all the more interesting about this day is that by some calculations (see Jack Finegan, Handbook of Biblical Chronology) Jesus was born on or very near the 15th day of the 7th month–based on the chronology given in the book of Luke. The calculations are complex but have to do with the time in which Zechariah, father of John the Baptizer, served in the Temple (Luke 1:8), as the “section” of priests in which he was part went on duty at a specific time of year. From that window calculations can be made as to the birth of John, followed by the birth of Jesus six months later. My own calculations based on a computer program I use puts the birth of Jesus in 5 B.C. very close to Sukkoth, or September 22nd on the Gregorian Calendar, corresponding to the Autumnal Equinox. It just so happens that today, in 2010, the 15th day of the 7th month, beginning Sukkoth, also corresponds to the Equinox–that is today, September 22nd/23rd.
There is a fascinating Roman civic inscription dating to the year 9 B.C. that was passed by the cities of Asia to celebrate the birthday of the Emperor Augustus. It reads in part: “Whereas, finally, that the birthday of the god (i.e. Augustus) has been for the whole world the beginning of the gospel (euangelion) concerning him, therefore, let all reckon a new era beginning from the date of his birth, and let his birthday mark the beginning of the new year.”
It is surely more than ironic that the birth of Jesus, an insignificant Galilean peasant, living under the brutal boot of Roman occupation, just a few years later, did indeed lead to a new era, a kind of “birthday of the world,” that has paled into insignificance the birth of the celebrated Emperor Augustus.
So today in particular it seems has a double meaning, as the festival of Sukkoth for Jews and others who observe the Torah festivals, but for Christians, and really our entire society, the birthday of a new era, in that Jesus himself was born on or very near this day.
Was the Last Supper a Jewish Passover Seder? Millions of Christians who are happily and profitably discovering their “Hebraic roots” by studying, participating in, and even reenacting “Passover” services have equated it with the final evening meal Jesus had with his disciples. Indeed, many so-called “messianic” groups have developed an extensive interpretation of the traditional Jewish Passover Seder that finds all sorts of Christological meanings reflected in the ceremonies, including the death and resurrection of Jesus for the sins of humankind.
All four of our gospels report that Jesus ate a last meal privately with the Twelve, on the “night he was betrayed,” as Paul puts it. However, the Synoptics (Mark, Matthew, Luke) and John report things differently in so far as whether this meal took place on the night of Passover, or the night before. Although many have attempted harmonization, the differences in the two reports remain stark and and can not be ignored. Scholars have exhaustively argued out every possibility pro and con.
I argue in The Jesus Dynasty (chapter 12 “Last Days in Jerusalem”) that the final meal was not a Passover Seder and offer a revised chronology in which Jesus dies on a Thursday, rather than a Friday, with the Passover Seder falling at the beginning of the 15th of Nisan, after sundown, Thursday night with that Friday, in the year AD/CE 30 being a “high day” sabbath, followed by the weekly Sabbath.
In a thoroughly comprehensive general article just published in the latest issue of Biblical Archaeology Review (March/April, 2010) titled “Was Jesus’ Last Supper a Seder,” Boston University professor Jonathan Klawans explores the issue in a clear and compelling way, concluding that the last meal of Jesus was most likely not a Passover Seder. I am pleased to say you can read it on-line here, but hope you will consider subscribing to BAR magazine as it continues to bring us quality articles of this type.
N I have chosen as a “Last Supper” illustration the etching by the incomparably great Albrecht Dürer in which the “beloved disciple” is sleeping as a small child, next to Jesus.
One of the so-called “minor” festival days within Jewish tradition falls today, January 30th, which also happens to be a Sabbath day this year of 2010. It is called in Hebrew Tu b’Shevat which literally means “15th of Shebat,” referring to the 11th month/moon on the Jewish/biblical calendar (called Shevat, see Zech 1:7). We are not certain of the origins of all the names of the Jewish months, since in the Hebrew Bible months are normally just numbered, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and so forth. However, the Hebrew word shevat does mean a staff or rod, and thus by extension a “tribe.” One of the more interesting references to the 11th month is Deuteronomy 1:3 where Moses gives his final message to the assemblies of Israel east of the Jordan on the 1st of Shevat, which would have been the New Moon.
In Hebrew numbers are expressed by letters, Alef=1, Bet=2, Gimmel=3 and so forth. By such a system the number fifteen would be “ten & five” which is Yod Heh–however, since Yod Heh is an abbreviation for YHVH, the Divine and Holy Name of God, a substitute combination of Tet (nine) and Vav (six) are used–Thus the designation TU. The 15th of any lunar month is also the Full Moon and since Shevat, or the 11th month, often falls in late January/early February, it is the biggest and brightest moon of the year, sometimes called the “Wolf Moon,” see National Geographic story “Biggest Full Moon.”
In Jewish tradition this festival of the Full Moon of Shevat is also called the “festival of the Trees” and it marks a “new year” in terms of trees and their fruit, based on the Torah command in Leviticus 19:23-24: “When you come into the land and plant any kind of tree for food, then you shall regard its fruit as “uncircumcised” (i.e., forbidden). Three years it shall be forbidden to you; it must not be eaten. And in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the Yehovah. But in the fifth year you may eat of its fruit, to increase its yield for you: I am the Yehovah your God.” This passage is viewed as having great significance, both practically and mystically, and it falls within the Holiness Code of the Torah (Lev 19), one of the more inspiring and universal collections of mitzvot or teachings.
In Israel and throughout the world it is a day of the planting of trees. It is also said that on the 15th of the 11th month the sap in the trees begins to rise signaling the end of winter, and the almond trees blossom by this day. I heard from a friend in Israel just this week that indeed the almond trees are out in full all over the Land. Since trees as so often used in the Hebrew Bible to represent human beings, their lifespan, and their potential to “bear fruit,” both the planting of a tree and its eventual growth and gifts are understood to represent symbolic meaning as well (see Psalm 1:3; 92:13; Eccl 12:1-7).
This day is also connected to the ma’aseror “tithe” of produce, as related to trees, fruit, and other produce.
In terms of the Torah text itself just as a tree is planted with future hope of fruit, but without any immediate result until at least three years of growth, plus a 4th year of dedication to YHVH, and then only in the 5th year the fruit is eaten–humans have similar experiences of new beginnings or “plantings” that do not yield immediate results but one must “wait” for the results to appear. Fruit trees continue to represent to most of us a picture of pardes or Paradise, as well as the original diet of human beings (Genesis 1:29; 2:9). Such a diet (called in Hebrew zeor’im or “seeds”) was seen as ideal and conducive to spiritual development. Daniel and his three companions in Babylon separate themselves from the food and wine of the king and for three years of “testing” eat “from the seeds,” experiencing health and spiritual insights and power far beyond their peers (Daniel 1:14-15).
Blow the shofar at the new moon,
at the covered moon, on our feast day.
For it is a statute for Israel,
a rule of the God of Jacob.
He made it a decree in Joseph
when He went out over the land of Egypt (Psalm 81:3-5)
My Last Night in Goshen
by Ross Nichols
Pesach 2009 / 5769
The moon is huge and bright outside. All around me I see the silhouettes of people scurrying about and preparing for our much anticipated 
departure. People can be seen packing all of their possessions in the flickering light of the oil lamps burning within the homes of all of my neighbors. I am standing outside of my home, my belt is fastened, sandals are tied tightly on my feet and my staff is in my hand. I am burning what was left from my family meal, as I was instructed, upon a pile of coals.
Four days ago I selected a lamb for my house and then today at the specified time “between the evenings” I killed it and roasted it over a fire. My family ate the flesh with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. I took some of the blood and applied it to the top and sides of the doorway to my home. I am told that this will serve as a sign to keep my family safe. It is whispered that tonight at midnight a destroyer will pass through the land and enter any and every home that does not have the sign to kill the firstborn.
We have prayed for deliverance from the hard labor of this place. My people have been sojourners for 430 years! It is said that our God has finally heard our cries. Two sons of the tribe of Levi revealed this to our elders who then informed us of all that would lead to our freedom. Their names are Moses and Aaron, both sons of Amram and Jochebed of the family of Kohath. I am told that these two sons of Levi performed many miracles in the sight of our elders which confirmed to them that our God has indeed visited us and witnessed our afflictions. When I first heard this news I bowed my head and worshipped!
Time and again they went before Pharaoh and requested that our people be allowed to leave but the king of Egypt refused every time. Because of the strength of Pharaoh’s heart and his arrogance towards God’s messengers our God has caused great calamities to fall upon the people who have enslaved us. During all of this time my people have been protected in our place of Goshen. The water of the Nile was turned to blood. The fish died and the smell from the water was horrid! Even after this sign, Pharaoh would not let us go. The land was invaded by frogs. We hear that the frogs were inside of the homes of the Egyptians…on their beds and even in their kneading bowls! I had hoped that this would cause Pharaoh to let us leave but as soon as the plague was removed and the frogs burned in the fires, Pharaoh returned to his stubbornness! Gnats came next. The gnats covered all living creatures – both man and beast, but Pharaoh was still not willing to let us leave. Flies came next to such a degree that the land of Egypt was ruined by the swarms. I thought that this plague would have been enough, but Pharaoh still stood strong against us. Then I witnessed the livestock of the Egyptians dead in the fields and yet even with this, Pharaoh refused to let us go. Even when the Egyptians were stricken with painful sores on their flesh they did not give in to release us. We heard from our elders that Moses instructed all of us to take our livestock to safety to keep them protected during the next plague. We were told that God would send a storm of hail. Some of the Egyptians took heed to this warning but most did not. We were safe in Goshen, but the storm was fierce! Hail and fire came down from heaven such as had never been seen or heard! All the plants were destroyed as well. Once again the sons of Levi, as they had done after each of the preceding plagues went before Pharaoh. As soon as the storm was stayed by the hand of Moses, Pharaoh grew arrogant once again and reneged on his word. Locusts were sent to eat what was left from the hail, but as soon as they were blown away by God, Pharaoh went back on his word. Then a darkness came upon the land – a darkness so thick that one could feel it! This seemed only to anger Pharaoh more and he threatened Moses and Aaron with death if they appeared before him again.
We then followed the directions of Moses and Aaron and asked our Egyptian neighbors for silver and gold which they gave to us. We were told to prepare as I mentioned previously for our departure. So as the glow from the coals slowly fades into the dark of night I close the door of my home. The children are sleeping quietly on the floor. Our dog and other animals all curled up in a ball with them. My wife and I are too anxious to sleep.
What was that? I hear high pitched screams as the wind blows hard outside of our home. I watch as clouds pass in front of the moon and I know that tonight is the night that God has chosen to save His people. I am told that we will eat this meal every year at this time when we reach our destination. When my sons ask me why we eat this meal I will tell them, “It is YHWH’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when He struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.”
Tell the story in your own way during this season. Shalom and chag sameach!
Ross Nichols
Everyone familiar with either Jewish tradition or biblical history knows of the “Fast of the 5th,” namely the practice of fasting and mourning on the 9th of Av (the 5th month on the Jewish calendar), in memory of the destruction of both Jewish Temples (586 BCE and 70 CE) during that time. This practice goes back over 2500 years and is mentioned in the book of the Prophet Zechariah (8:18-19), around 515 BCE.
However, Zechariah mentions another fast day–”the Fast of the 10th month,” referring to today, January 6th, which is the 10th of Tevet (the 10th month on the Jewish calendar). This second fast day, also referenced by Zechariah, is connected to the initial siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, on the 10th day of the 10th month, in the winter of 587 BCE, seven months before its destruction in August, 586 BCE (9th of Av).
Here is a fascinating article, based on Rabbinic traditions regarding the chronology of these days, by Daniel Pinner, from israelnationalnews.com, that offers some provocative reflections on this date in history:
The Fast of the TenthTevet 10, 5769, 06 January 09 12:04by by Daniel Pinner
(IsraelNN.com) “And it happened in the ninth year of [Zedekiah's] reign, in the tenth month [i.e., Tevet], on the tenth of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came – he and all his army – against Jerusalem, besieged it and built a siege tower around it.” (II Kings 25:1, Jeremiah 52:4)Zedekiah was the very last king of Judah, who had ascended the throne in a turbulent period of Jewish history. One hundred and twenty-two years earlier, Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, had conquered the northern kingdom of Israel; he took King Hoshea captive and sent the ten tribes into exile, scattered throughout the Assyrian Empire, where they were lost to the Jewish national body. The southern kingdom of Judea would survive for another 133 years, under constant threat of invasion and occasional incursions from Egypt and Babylon, before finally being invaded and conquered by Nebuchadnezzar.
Zedekiah’s father, Josiah, had reigned for thirty-one years. He had ascended the throne when he was just eight years old, and tried desperately to repair the spiritual ravages that his predecessors had caused to the nation: he renovated the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, which had not been maintained properly since King Jehoash, eight kings and over 200 years previously; he restored the Torah to Judah; he destroyed the idols, including the Asherah tree from the Holy Temple, and burned them all; he dismissed the priests of idolatry and destroyed the rooms that they had maintained within the Holy Temple; he destroyed all the idolatrous altars throughout the Land; and he restored the Pesach sacrifice, which had been neglected for centuries.
His reign came to an abrupt end when Pharaoh Neco wanted to traverse through Judea on his way to fight Assyria. King Josiah would not tolerate a foreign army on Judean soil, so he confronted the pharaoh in Megiddo. In the ensuing battle, Pharaoh Neco killed King Josiah, whereupon the masses anointed Josiah’s son Jehoahaz as king.
Jehoahaz, however, was an evil king; and after reigning for just three months, the pharaoh captured him, exiled him, reduced Judea to a vassal state, and put Jehoaz’s brother Eliakim on the throne, changing his name to Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim, also an evil king, reigned for eleven years, first as a vassal of Egypt, then of Babylon. Eventually, a Babylonian-Moabite-Ammonite alliance attacked Judea, inflicting terrible damage. Jehoiakim died, and his eighteen-year-old son Jehoiachin became king. Jehoiachin was just as evil as his father and, after he reigned for just three months, Babylon besieged Jerusalem, pillaged the treasures of the Holy Temple, exiled tens of thousands of Jews, and took King Jehoiachin into captivity in Babylon.
The king of Babylon then crowned Jehoiachin’s uncle, Mattaniah, as vassal-king of Judea, changing his name to Zedekiah. And then, after nine years of autonomy in the Babylonian Empire, on the tenth of Tevet, the Babylonian army began its siege on Jerusalem, the last stage before the final obliteration of Jewish independence. Just seven months later, on the 7th of Av, Nebuzaradan, the chief executioner of Babylon, would arrive in Jerusalem to burn the Holy Temple two days later – on the 9th of Av.
The 9th of Av had been ordained as a day of destruction and mourning ever since the spies whom Moshe had sent to spy out the Land of Israel had returned, given their evil report, and the nation spurned the Land of Israel and cried in their lack of faith. The Talmud (Ta’anit 29a) calculates the Torah’s chronology: on the 20th of Iyar we left Mount Sinai (Numbers 10:11); this was followed by a three-day journey (v.33) concluding on the 23rd of Iyar; a 30-day sojourn in Kibroth-Hata’avah (ibid. 11:20, 34) concluding on the 22nd of Sivan; and finally seven days in Hazeroth (11:35, 12:15-16) before reaching the Paran Desert (ibid. 12:16) on the 29th of Sivan.
Hence, Moshe sent out the twelve spies on the 29th of Sivan (compare Targum Yonatan to Numbers 13:20). They returned forty days later on the 8th of Av and gave their evil report of the Land; and when night fell and the nation cried, it was the evening of the 9th of Av. Instead of the 9th of Av being the day that we entered the Land of Israel and brought the redemption, it became a day of tragedy.
But what event foreshadowed the siege of Jerusalem beginning on the 10th of Tevet?
It seems to me that the Torah gives us a hint of what the background was. 1,291 years before the First Temple was destroyed, three angels appeared to Abraham and Sarah, heralding the birth of their son Isaac the following year (Genesis 18:1-14). The Talmud and the midrashim are consistent about the chronology: the angel promised Sarah that she would bear her son Isaac exactly one year hence (18:10); the 400 years of Abraham’s seed living as “strangers in a land not their own” (15:13) began with the birth of Isaac and finished with the Exodus from Egypt. Since the Exodus occurred on the 15th of Nisan, Isaac was born 400 years to the day earlier; i.e., also on the 15th of Nisan. And since the angelic prophecy to Sarah was one year to the day before Isaac was born, this episode also happened on the 15th of Nisan.
This was also the day before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, sparing only Lot and his two daughters, who fled into the hills (Genesis 19:1-25). The night following the destruction, Lot’s daughters, fearing that they were the only three people remaining in the world, plied their father with drink and impregnated themselves by him. They gave birth to sons – the elder bore Moab and the younger bore the ancestor of Ammon (19:30-38).
Nine months after the 16th of Nisan brings us to the 10th of Tevet. Hence, Moab and Ammon, the two nations who, in alliance with Babylon, would attack Judea and thus initiate the process that would culminate in Judea being captured and the Holy Temple destroyed, were born on the 10th of Tevet – the day that Babylon began the siege on Jerusalem.
Thus, Jewish independence would be extinguished in the Land of Israel and, for the next 70 years, the Land was to lie desolate under Babylonian occupation. At the end of that time, the Persian King Cyrus (Koresh) defeated Babylon, inherited the Babylonian Empire – including Israel – and proclaimed the right of any Jew who wanted to return to Israel and to rebuild the Holy Temple.
In the days of the Second Temple, we did not fast on the fast days of mourning (the 17th of Tammuz, the 9th of Av, Tzom Gedaliyah on the 3rd of Tishrei, and the 10th of Tevet): one does not mourn over the destruction on the Temple while the Temple is standing. The Rambam, however, states that the Jews did fast on the 9th of Av in the Second Temple period (commentary to the Mishnah, Rosh HaShanah 1:3; “Laws of Fasts” 5:5).
It seems puzzling that we should fast in mourning for the Temple when the Temple is standing. The Maggid Mishneh (commentary on the Mishneh Torah by Rabbi Vidal of Tolosa, 14th-century Spain) explains: “According to our rabbi [the Rambam], the custom [whether or not to fast] depends upon the circumstances, as the Talmud [Rosh HaShanah 18b] makes clear. In a time of peace – which means when the Holy Temple is built – the fast days are days of rejoicing and gladness; in times of persecution, they are fast days; and in times when there is neither peace nor persecution, every Jew who desires to fast can fast. However, fasting is not obligatory, with the exception of the fast of the 9th of Av, because there were so many disasters on this day. But now, everyone fasts on all these days and all are obligatory upon every Jew until the Holy Temple will be rebuilt.” (Maggid Mishneh on “Laws of Fasts” 5:5)
Evidently, the Second Temple, being only temporary, could annul three of the four fasts of mourning. But the 9th of Av is such a disastrous day that a temporary Temple cannot override it.
But the third and final Holy Temple will convert even the 9th of Av into the day of joy and festivity that it was originally intended to be, a day of redemption: “Thus said HaShem, Lord of Legions: The fast of the fourth [month, i.e., Tammuz] and the fast of the fifth [month, i.e., Av] and the fast of the seventh [month, i.e., Tishrei], and the fast of the tenth [month, i.e., Tevet] will turn into rejoicing and gladness and festivities for the House of Judah. So love truth and peace.” (Zechariah 8:19)
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Ross Nichols, leader of “Roots of Faith” in St Francisville, LA, offers his perspective on the Jewish Holiday known more commonly as Rosh HaShanah, and called in the Bible “Yom Teru’ah,” or literally “day of the blast,” as he explains here:
I wanted to take the time to send out a special note to my entire mailing list as we draw near to the beginning of the 7th month on the Biblical Calendar. This 7th month, is referred to by Josephus as the “Sacred Month”.
This is my favorite time of the year. The Bible refers to this season as the “turn of the year – Exodus 34:22″, and I always feel that this time leads us into a holy time – a time to reflect on our deeds and a time to “turn to our God” in repentance.
One thing that I constantly stress in my teachings is that people would do well to incorporate the “times and seasons” of the Bible into their personal faith. There is something incredible about being in sync with God’s appointed times (moedim). A careful study of Leviticus 23 is a good place to start. In the very first verse we learn that these are the “festivals of YHWH”.
Jews have kept these festivals since they were given and have developed their own rich traditions around each of these. Christians are beginning to see the great value in studying them and incorporating them into their walk often as a way to be more like Jesus (Yeshua). These moedim clearly have meaning for anyone that seeks to adopt the ways of the Creator.
Beginning tomorrow, according to the Jewish calendar, we enter this 7th month. This first day of the 7th month is known biblically as Yom Teruah, (a day of blasting, shouting), more commonly known as the Feast of Trumpets and traditionally as Rosh HaShana (or New Year’s day). Anciently, the new month was determined based upon the sighting of the new moon (a thin crescent), while the modern Jewish calendar is determined by calculation. The subject of the Hebrew Calendar is a very interesting and hotly debated subject – but one that is quite rewarding. So whether you follow the Jewish calendar or prefer to spot the thin crescent moon in the sky with your own eyes, the day is fast approaching!
An Ancient Sermon delivered on Yom Teruah
The 8th chapter of Nehemiah contains a sermon that was preached on this very day nearly 2,467 years ago! It is there referred to as “a day Holy to YHWH”. The Torah has two main references to this Festival (Leviticus 23:23-25 and Numbers 29:1-6). The key word for this particular holy day is the Hebrew word Teruah. It is from the root “rua’” which means to “raise a shout” and is often associated with a battle cry. It can be associated with “making a loud noise” and one musical instrument that is commonly found making such noise is the ram’s horn “trumpet”, or shofar.
The shofar blast (the cry) is considered a warning and a call to repentance. A few passages that illustrate the use of the verb “rua’” are as follows: Psalm 47, Psalm 66:1; Psalm 81:2; Psalm 100:1, and Joshua 6:5.
This coming Sabbath is called Shabbat Shuvah – the Sabbath of Repentance. From the 1st day of the 7th month, we enter a 10-day countdown towards Yom Kippur – the Day of Atonement. I would encourage all of you to examine yourself and seek to make mends. The gates of repentance are always open.
Sin is the transgression of the commandments. Yeshua said that all who do and teach the commandments will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 5:17-20). To begin to turn to the Creator and to His ways as laid forth in the Law and the Prophets is the beginning step on the path towards true repentance.
I pray that each of you will meditate on these things as we enter this Holy 7th month.
A Sunday Shul Lesson for Yom Teruah
This past Sunday in my weekly Sunday Shul class, I taught on this very subject of Yom Teruah. Beginning with a sermon that dates to approximately 458 B.C.E., I seek to illustrate the Biblical significance of the 1st day of the 7th month.
Weaving the upcoming Torah and Prophet reading for Sabbath Shuvah (The Sabbath of Repentance) with the ancient sermon, I attempt to point out a path for repentance found within the Torah.
This timely message should be “heard” and proclaimed as we enter into what Josephus calls the “Sacred Month”.
Go here to listen to my message on Yom Teruah.
Look for the new moon and realize that once it is spotted, we are in the “Day of the Awakening Blast.”
So as we enter this season – I pray that God will begin to open our eyes, ears and hearts to those incredible teachings that are to be lovingly inscribed upon the hearts of all who are part of what the prophet Jeremiah called the “New Covenant” – Jeremiah 31:31-34
Shalom as we anxiously await Yom Teruah – the Day of Shouting!
Ross Nichols
I wanted to post some of my notes this week related to my personal study of the weekly parsha called Be-Ha’alotcha (translated, “When you put up”). It has some key points and some of the most interesting – though seemingly unconnected stories.
It begins with instructions for the “putting up” of the menorah, and speaks of the “purification of the Levites”, who according to the literal reading of the Hebrew (8:16) are “given, yes given” to YHWH.
There is allowance made for a “make up” Passover for those that were on a journey or impure when the Pesach of the first month was kept.
In Chapter 9, we read an interesting point that “there will be one statute for you (pl) and for the stranger and for the citizen of the land”. I love this idea. There are many out there that place artificial distinctions between Israel and humanity. It is my opinion that all of the world will be instructed into the “Way of YHWH”. Indeed this is the reason for Israel serving as a nation of Priests, being given a charge to be a light to the nations, etc. One only has to read Isaiah chapters 2 and 56 (for example) to see that this is the goal for humanity.
Chapter 9:15-23 we read of the cloud and how it guided the travels of the Israelites. I had not noticed it in previous readings of this text, but the movement of the cloud and the reaction to this move by the people following, are closely associated with their obedience to the “word of YHWH” (mouth might be a better rendering).
Chapter 10 deals with the reasons for the sounding of the trumpets and the order of travel for the tribes.
Chapter 11 switches gears on us. Here we meet with much complaining by the people. They long to return to Egypt. I guess this had me thinking. Often, I meet people who have left their “spiritual Egypt”, but for one reason or another they begin to crave the things that they had there. The provision of God begins to lose its flavor and they want to return. These complaints are “bad in the ears of YHWH” and His anger is flared – and subsequently we read that it was bad in Moses’ eyes.
The people still direct their complaints to the man Moses and not to God. In this week’s lesson we see that despite Moses’ humility – he is becoming a bit tired. The people lash out at Moses and he unloads on God. He feels that he is carrying the burden alone and asks God to kill him if things continue as they are. I think that it is interesting to note that God does not react…or should I say over-react to Moses when he makes this comment. In fact, he seemingly ignores his drama altogether and just resolves the issues at hand. Often, I think we take comments of others and over-react causing more problems rather than setting forth solutions. This can be a lesson to us all. God does not chide Moses for his exaggerated remark, He merely sets things straight. Read it and see how God “fixes” the problem!
In verse 20 we find that God informs Moses what he should relate to the complainers. If they want what they had in Egypt, then that is what they shall get. Not just a taste of what they had, but enough that it will run out of their noses! It should be noted that this is a result of their “rejecting YHWH”. This is very similar to the later demand for a King like the nations. Often, I find that God fulfills the request of His people, even when they are in rebellion. He allows them what they ask for in order that they will realize what they have done and return to His ways. Be careful what you ask for!
This Torah reading also contains some interesting points on the imparting of the Spirit. Chapter 11:1-18, and 24-25 reveal the solution to Moses carrying the whole burden alone. God takes some of the Spirit that is upon Moses and shares it with the “70″. They prophesy as an indication that the Spirit is on them, but then it says that they did not do so again (v.25). One is reminded of the story in 1 Samuel 10. Of particular note is what is recorded in 1 Samuel 10:6 – When the spirit comes upon you…you will become a different man! How true is this? When people claim to be spirit filled and continue to practice their ungodly behavior, one has to wonder if their claims are true.
When Moses is informed that some are in the camp prophesying and that he should make them stop – he says that he wished all YHWH’s people were prophets. This is important. Too often, leaders want to be in charge and have others serve them. Not so with Moses! Yeshua said that this is the way Gentiles think. Many churches are full of this in their pastor adoration! We should all learn from this.
An interesting play on words that shows up in the Hebrew comes next. Moses has just asked that YHWH “put his Spirit on” the people so that they could all be prophets. In the very next verse, the “Ruach” does indeed travel to the people, but translated as “wind”, the Ruach from YHWH brings the quail that the people craved! Be careful what you ask for!
In Chapter 12, we find Aaron and Miriam complaining against Moses. This is a remarkable story! God calls them into account for their challenge against Moses. He would later ask them, “Why did you not fear to speak against my servant Moses?!” We should learn from this that one should be very cautious when speaking words against the meekest man on all the earth. God spoke to him, mouth to mouth and he saw the “form of YHWH”!
For her part in this, Miriam is afflicted. I find it very instructive to read the prayer that Moses offers on her behalf. I have been in prayer meetings with many over the years where people petition God with many words. Yeshua talks of this repetitious prayer practice. Do we think that we must go on and on for God to hear us and answer? Moses says 5 Hebrew words and God acts. “God, please heal her please.” We should learn from this.
So this is my summary of the Torah reading for this week. Study it and learn from it. The festival of Shavuoth has just passed. I pray that like the ancient Israelites, we receive the Torah afresh. Put these words in your heart. Be humble, seek God and keep your prayers simple. Plead with God on behalf of others – even when they do wrong to you. Moses wished that all of God’s people were prophets and that He would put his spirit on all of them. I pray that as well.
Have a great week. Shalom, Ross
Ross K. Nichols
www.RootsofFaith.org