The Festivals of the Jewish People
By Hillel ben David (Greg Killian)
Edited by Poriel ben Avraham and Mikha ben Hillel
The Festivals of the Jewish People
By Hillel ben David (Greg Killian)
Edited by Poriel ben Avraham and Mikha ben Hillel
History tells us about a people that have been present since
most of human history. The Jews have been around for
several millennia, existing before and after
The reader is probably familiar with the festivals of Messiahmas and Easter. These Messiahian holidays are normally festive and happy days of the year. Families get together and exchange gifts, hide and find eggs (which, oddly enough, were laid by a bunny), enjoy good conversation, enjoy good food, and generally have a good time. Unfortunately, a critical piece is missing from this puzzle: Man's correct answer to HaShem’s call. What this article proposes to accomplish is to find the correct way to answer HaShem’s call in the festivals as proscribed by the scriptures and celebrated by the Messiah and his followers.
Jews spend every week preparing for the Sabbath, which starts on Friday night. We see time go by in terms of how many Sabbaths have passed. Our lifestyle encourages us to prepare for the next Sabbath and coincidentally for the next festival (especially festival sabbaths, explained later). To Jews, the festivals are Moedim, appointments, with HaShem. These are times designated by HaShem for the Jewish people to unite with each other and with our Creator, under the leadership of the Messiah. The significance of this cannot be under estimated!
The Biblical festivals are also Mikraot, rehearsals, set by HaShem. We rehearse certain events in time in order to be prepared for, and prophesy about, future events. This is significant, since to Jews this means that our festivals are prophecies of things to come:
Collossians 2:16 Let no man therefore judge you
in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: 17 Which
are a shadow (prophesy) of things to come; but the body
of Messiah.
The festivals allow us to actively prepare for something that can happen this year or the next! Therefore these appointments with HaShem place us at the right place, at the right time, doing the right things.
This contrasts with the festival calendars of others, who are offered a mere role of being a spectator, marvelling at miracles, rather than being a performer and harbinger of future events. What these Biblical festivals offer is the chance for a human being to make a real connection with HaShem, and become HaShem’s helper in bringing about redemption to all mankind.
As can be seen, the Biblical festivals are not just occasions for giving presents, eating candy and good food, and having a good time with friends and family (although we do those as well). They include those things and so much more. They are very significant times of the year for us to connect with our G-d, to connect with our people, and to prepare and prophesy about future events in human history.
Now that we have been introduced to the Jewish understanding of the essence of the festivals, it seems appropriate to provide a list of all the festivals including the dates on which they are celebrated and a small description of each of them.
There are seven yearly major festivals:
These seven yearly festivals have seven festival Sabbaths:
The Sabbath if also a festival that recurs every week.
There are seven normal Fasts:
There are several minor holidays:
There are four new years:
See the links for each festival to discover more ways to prophesy!
Rosh Hashanah (Tishri 1) Also known as Yom HaDin (Judgment Day), Yom HaZikaron (Day of Remembrance) and Yom Teruah (Day of breathing or blowing).
This holiday celebrates the creation of Adam, and therefore of the world, and as such is the new year for calculating calendar years, sabbatical and jubilee years, vegetable tithes, and tree-planting (determining the age of a tree). This holiday is characterized the blowing of the shofar a hundred times. During the afternoon of the first day, many follow the practice of tashlik, symbolically casting away sins by throwing stones into the waters.
Fast of
Gedaliah (Tishri 3) The Fast of the Seventh Month.
This fast commemorates the slaying of Gedaliah Ben Akhikam, whom Nebuchadnezzar appointed governor of after the first destruction of the (Jeremiah 40:7, II Kings 25:22.) His death was the final blow to hopes that the Jewish state might survive the Babylonian domination.
Yom Kippur
(Tishri 10) The Day of Atonement, the day of repentance.
The holiest and most solemn day of the year. Its central theme is atonement and reconciliation. Traditionally, there are prohibitions on eating, drinking, bathing, and conjugal relations.
It is customary for the pious to immerse in the mikveh on Erev Yom Kippur.
Yom Kippur services begin with Kol Nidrei, which must be recited before sunset. A tallit is donned for evening prayers, the only evening service of the year in which this is done. The Ne'ilah service is a special service held only on the day of Yom Kippur and deals with the closing of the gate, the last chance for repentance. Yom Kippur comes to an end with the blowing of the shofar, which marks the conclusion of the fast.
Succoth (Tishri 15) The third Pilgrimage festival, it is also known as The Feast of Booths Tabernacles), The Feast of Ingathering, or just simply The Hag (The Festival).
Succoth is a seven day festival, with an eighth day: the first day is celebrated as a Sabbath, the following five days (Chol HaMoed) are weekdays that retain some aspects of the festival, the seventh day, Hoshanah Rabbah, and the eighth (Shemini Atzeret) days have special observances of their own.
Succoth commemorates the life of the Israelites in the desert during their journey to the Promised Land. During their wandering in the desert they lived in booths (Succoth). Four species of plants are used to celebrate the holiday: the lulav (palm branch), etrog (lemon-like citron), myrtle and willow. The etrog is handled separately, while the other three species are bound together, and are collectively referred to as the lulav.
During the five intermediate days of Succoth it is customary to read the book of Ecclesiastes.
Hoshanah Rabbah (The seventh day of Succoth).
This day closes the period of repentance that began on Rosh Hashana. Tradition has made this day into a sequel to the Days of Awe, lengthening the period of penitence and postponing the day when final sentence is to be rendered.
Shemini Atzeret (Tishri 22) The eighth day of Succoth.
In the Talmud it is written that "the eighth day [of Succoth] is a separate festival", so Succoth is really observed as seven days and Shemini Atzeret is observed as a separate holiday. It marks the beginning of the rainy season in Israel.
Simchat Torah (Tishri 23) Rejoicing with the Torah. The
finale of Succoth.
In
Chanukah (Kislev
25) Also known as Hag Ha'urim (The Festival of Lights) and The Feast of
Dedication.
Chanukah is a second chance to celebrate Succoth. This story of Chanukah is preserved in the books of the First and Second Maccabees. These books are not part of the Tanakh[1], but are part of the Apocrypha (Hebrew historical and religious material that was not codified as part of the Bible.) The miracle of Chanukah is referred to in the Talmud, but not in the books of the Maccabees. It marks the defeat of Assyrian forces that had tried to prevent us from practicing Judaism. Judah Maccabee and his brothers destroyed the overwhelming forces and re-dedicated the Temple. This eight day festival is marked by the kindling of lights with a special Menorah, called a Chanukiah.
The Fast of the Tenth of Tevet (Tevet 10)
The fast marks the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem by the forces of Nebuchadnezzar.
Tu B'Shevat
(Shevat 15) The New Year for trees.
This day was set aside in the Mishna on which to bring fruit tithes. It is still celebrated in modern times. In the 1600's, Rabbi Yitzchak Luria of Safed and his disciples created a short Seder, somewhat reminiscent of the Seder observed on Pesach, that explores the holiday's Kabbalistic themes.
Purim - Lots (Adar 14)
This festival commemorates the events found in the Book of Esther. The Shabbat preceding Purim is called Shabbat Zachor (the Sabbath of remembrance). The day before Purim, Adar 13, is the Fast of Esther. The book of Esther is written in the form of a scroll--the Megillah. It is chanted on Purim in the evening and on the next day after the Torah reading.
Shushan Purim (Adar 15)
In the Book of Esther, the rejoicing in the walled cities took place one day later (Adar 15) than elsewhere (Adar 14). Therefore, this day has come to be known as Shushan Purim. To the present day, Purim is observed on Adar 15 in such cities.
New Year for Kings (Nisan 1)
Nisan is the first month of the Hebrew calendar; in Mishnaic times it was celebrated as the New Year for Israelite Kings and for months. In addition to this "New Year", the Mishna sets up three other New Year's: Elul 1, for animal tithes, Tishrei 1 (Rosh HaShanah), and Shevat 15, the New Year for Trees / fruit tithes. Ever since the Babylonian diaspora, only Rosh HaShanah and Tu B'Shevat are still celebrated.
Tzom Bechorot: The Fast of the First Born (Nisan 14)
In commemoration of the slaying of the first-born sons of the Egyptians as the Tenth Plague visited on Pharaoh, while their Hebrew counterparts were "passed over" (i.e. spared, hence the English name Passover, for Pesach), first-born sons are required to observe a minor fast on the day before Passover. However, if they attend a simcha (joyous occasion) such as a wedding or a siyum (a celebration marking the completion of the study of a tractate of the Talmud), they are allowed to break the fast. Therefore most Orthodox synagogues arrange for a siyum on that day.
Pesach
- Passover (Nisan 15) The first Pilgrimage Festival
Pesach commemorates the liberation of the Israelites from Egypt. The first Seder is on the evening of the 14th (this is the beginning of the 15th). On the evening of the 15th (This is the beginning of the 16th), the second Seder is held, and the Sefirat HaOmer, counting of the Omer, starts. The Omer is a counting down of the days from the time of the departure from Egypt, until the time the Torah was received at Shavuot.
See also http://www.betemunah.org/sheni.html for information on the second chance to celebrate Pesach.
Sefirat Haomer
(Counting The Omer)
Sefirat Haomer also known simply as 'The Omer' (Hebrew for counting), this 49 day period between Pesach
and Shavuot is defined by the Torah as the period to bring special offerings to
the Temple in Jerusalem. This
makes physical, the spiritual
connection between Pesach and Shavuot. Pesach
marks the physical liberation from
Traditionally, the Sefirah (the counting of the Omer) is a time of sadness. During this period, 12,000 of Rabbi Akiva's disciples died. This occurred during the Hadrianic persecution that followed the Bar Kochba revolt, in which Rabbi Akiva was involved. During this period (with one exception, Log B'Omer, the 33rd day), customarily no weddings take place, no hair is cut and no activities occur involving dancing and music. The period is more culturally-dependant than the ban itself. In some cultures, the period is from Pesach to Lag B'Omer. Others go from Rosh Chodesh Iyar to Shavuot. Yom Haatzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim are days on which people who celebrate them take haircuts or take haircuts the day before.
Yom Ha'Shoah (Nisan 27) Holocaust Remembrance Day.
See Yom Yerushalayim.
Yom HaZikaron (Iyar 4) Day of remembrance.
In honor of Israeli veterans of the War of Independence. See Yom Yerushalayim.
Yom Ha'atzma'ut (Iyar 5)
See Yom Yerushalayim.
Lag B'Omer (Iyar 18 -The 33rd day of the Omer)
Lag B'Omer takes place during the Sefirah. During this day there was a break in the Hadrianic persecution. Weddings and joyful occasions are permitted.
Yom
Yerushalayim (Iyar 28)
Marks the reunification of and the Temple
Mount under Jewish rule almost 1900 years after the destruction of the
The Hallel [a series of prayers of praise] is recited. Chief Rabbis advocate reciting Hallel with a blessing.
The new holidays of Yom Yerushalayim, Yom HaZikaron, Yom Ha'atzma'ut, and Yom HaShoah are still too new for any consensus to have developed in the Jewish community as to the appropriate liturgy.
Shavuot (Sivan 6, 7) The second Pilgrimage Festival, it is also known as The Feast of Weeks, Hag Haqatsir (The harvest festival), Hag HaShavuot, or just Atzeret (The conclusion of Pesach). [Literally, the Hebrew word 'Atzeret' means conclusion.]
Shavuot marks the end of the counting of the Omer. According to Rabbinic tradition, the Ten Commandments were given on this day. It is customary to read the Book of Ruth on this day.
The Fast of the Seventeenth of Tammuz
(Tammuz 17)
Mentioned by the prophet Zechariah (the fast of the fourth
month), the 17th of Tammuz marks the beginning of the destruction of Jerusalem. On this day in 70 C.E. the Romans
breached the walls encircling
Traditionally, this day is observed by mourning and fasting. The fast begins at sunrise and concludes at sunset of the same day. This applies to all fasts, with the exception of Yom Kippur and Tisha B'Av, both of which begin on the preceding night. Fasting is the only restriction imposed; Working and bathing as usual are permitted.
The Three Weeks (Tammuz 17-Av 9) and The Nine Days (Av 1-Av 9)
Traditionally, the days between the 17th of Tammuz and the
9th of Av are considered days of mourning, for they witnessed the collapse of
A further element is added within the three
weeks, during the nine days between the first and ninth
day of Av. During this period, the pious refrain from eating
meat and drinking wine, except on Shabbat or at a
Seudat Mitzva (such as a Pidyon Haben or completing the study of a religious
text.) Many minhags observe a ban on cutting one's hair
during this period. However, the length of time varies:
some refrain only during the week in which Tisha B'Av falls. Tisha B'Av (Av 9)
the saddest day of the Jewish calendar. On this day
both the First and second Temples were destroyed. (587 BCE and 70 C.E.) On this
day in 1290, King Edward I signed the edict compelling the Jews to leave
The fast of Tisha B'Av begins after arbit (evening) services, Sefer Eicha (the book of Lamentations) is read. This is followed by the reading of Kinot, sorrowful hymns that emphasize the import of the fast. On the day of the ninth, Tallit and tefillin are not worn during shacharit (morning) services, as a sign of mourning.
New Year for Animal
Tithes (Elul
1)
This day is set up by the Mishna as the New Year for animal tithes, which roughly corresponds to a New Year for taxes. This is similar to the tax deadline in the, on April 15. This holiday has not been observed since the Babylonian diaspora.
There is a group of seven festivals that are also festival sabbaths. Festival sabbaths are days in the festival that also take on the splendor of the weekly Sabbath. They are:
|
FESTIVAL SABBATH |
ERETZ SABBATHS |
OUTSIDE SABBATHS |
|
|
|
|
|
Pesach – Passover |
Nisan 15 |
Nisan 15 and 16 |
|
|
Nisan 21 |
Nisan 21 and 22 |
|
|
|
|
|
Shabuot – Feast of Weeks |
Sivan 6 |
Sivan 6 and 7 |
|
|
|
|
|
Rosh Hashanah – Feast of Trumpets |
Tishrei 1-2 (one long day) |
Tishrei 1-2 (one long day) |
|
|
|
|
|
Yom Kippur – The Day of Atonement |
Tishrei 10 |
Tishrei 10 |
|
|
|
|
|
Succoth – The Feast of Tabernacles Shemini Atzeret – The Eighth Assembly |
Tishrei 15 |
Tishrei 15 and 16 |
|
Tishrei 22 |
Tishrei 22 and 23 |
Most Jews would consider these to be the most significant of the festivals, largely because they require more prophetical activity than the other festivals. For instance, Pesach (Passover) has two days in which the Pesach meal is be eaten and thus preparations in advance must be made. It also requires that each house to be completely cleaned of chametz (leaven) for the whole week of the festival, and that no G-d fearing person eats any chametz during that Passover week.
In the previous two lists we saw some peculiar vocabulary being used. They seemed to be dates, but not from any calendar you've ever used! That's because they are dates in the Hebrew calendar.
Jews count time in a different way then the rest of humanity do and this is most evident in the use of a different calendar. The Gregorian calendar is the one used by most people today. It is the standard calendar used in the business world and is solar-based. The Biblical calendar is used by Jews for prophetic purposes and is lunar and solar-based. Because the Biblical calendar is lunar and solar-based, new months are measured by the phases of the moon. With every new moon there is a new month.
The months in the Biblical calendar are (in order):
Nisan (approx. March-April)
Iyar (approx. April-May)
Sivan (approx. May-June)
Tammuz (approx. June-July)
Av (approx. July-August)
Ellul (approx. August-September)
Tishre (approx. September-October)
Heshvan (approx. October-November)
Kislev (approx. November-December)
Tevet (approx. December-January)
Shevat (approx. January-February)
Adar (approx. February-March)
It's important to remember that when the Bible speaks about months, it speaks about months relative to the Biblical calendar, not the Gregorian. This includes both the Tanakh (the so called 'Old Testament') and the Nazarean Codicil (the so called 'New Testament'). Therefore this is a key fact to understand when prophesying or interpreting Biblical prophecy.
Another important thing to keep in mind is that the Bible determines a new day to start at sun-down rather than at 12:00 AM. This affects the time on which Sabbaths and festivals start, as well as the right time to start our prophetic work.
THE LEAP YEAR AND ITS AFFECT
ON THE FESTIVALS
As all societies, cultures, nations, governments and people have certain dates that they observe according to their own calendars, so Yeshua, the Master of Nazareth, lived in a society whose days were governed by the Jewish calendar; where he gave his lectures, as recorded in the “gospels”, in their appropriate times. Rabbi Hillel II, a relative of Yeshua, fixed the calendar based on mathematical and astronomical calculations to a nineteen-year cycle. Within this cycle they have calculated into it, leap years by which the calendar, along with it’s festivals, will continually remain in a fixed state rather than jump through the seasons. The Rabbis made sure that the Biblical year harmonizes the solar and lunar cycle, using the nineteen-year cycle of Meton (c. 432 B.C.E.) Meton discovered that the moon returns to it’s place, in space, relative to the Earth and the Sun, every nineteen years.
The word calendar comes from a Latin root meaning “account book” which is a system of determining the beginning, length, and divisions of a year and for arranging the year into days, weeks, and months. It is also used as a schedule of pending court cases, bills coming before a legislature, planned social events and more. The Biblical calendar it is also used for determining the dates of HaShem’s festivals (prophecies yet to come), Rosh Chodeshim (new moon celebrations that mark the beginning of a Biblical month), Shabbatot (Sabbaths) and leap years.
The Rabbis (masters of the Bible) have calculated that within this nineteen-year cycle there are twelve qesidra (regular) years; that contain 354 days within a twelve month period. When the biblical month of Heshvan has 29 days and the biblical month of Kislev has 30 days it is determined as a qesidra year. When both months have 30 days the year is then called a Shelema (complete or leap) year.
The number of days in a Jewish year is calculated by the new moons that appear which is known as a lunar year. It is also based on the revolution of the earth around the sun to determine seasons which is known as a solar year. A lunar year of 354 days is 11 days shorter than the solar year. If the Jewish calendar were based only on the lunar calculation, we would find Pesach (passover) being observed in the spring in one year, in the winter, some years later, then in the fall and then in the summer and, after 33 years, in the spring again. But the Torah commanded that Pesach must be celebrated in the spring (Shemot [Exodus] 13:4). This tells us that the average length of the Biblical lunar year must be adjusted to the solar year. Now we can begin to appreciate and understand the effect that the leap year has not only upon the calendar, but also on the prophetic festivals themselves, as Yeshua taught.
The leap years, in each cycle of nineteen years, are spaced every two to three years so that the 3rd, 6th, 8th, 11th, 14th, 17th and 19th years are leap years. The leap month of Adar I is placed on the calendar in the 3rd, 6th, 8th, 11th, 14th, 17th and 19th years of the cycle. Adar II is normally just called Adar. Adar I is 30 days long and Adar II is 29 days long, but when the leap month of Adar I is placed BEFORE Adar II, hence the need for clarification. On Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish new year), Thursday, October 2, 1997 CE (Biblical calendar year 5758 AM) began the first year of the cycle. On Rosh Hashanah, 2016 will be the end in this cycle. Within this period, Rosh Hashanah of the year 2000 started the second leap year, the third started in 2003, the fourth will start in 2005, the fifth in 2008, the sixth in 2011, and the seventh in 2013.
THE HISTORICAL
AND BIBLICAL ROOTS OF THE FESTIVALS
In the
|
Festival |
Historical Event |
Prophecy |
|
Pesach – Passover |
HaShem redeemed and liberated Israel from Egypt. |
Speaks to the future redemption
which is modeled after the redemption from |
|
Sefirat Haomer
(Counting the Omer) |
Semicha (Rabbinical ordination) of Rabbi Akiva’s students and The Master of Nazareth’s students. |
Counting to the love of the people of Israel. |
|
Shabuot – Feast of Weeks |
This is the day the Torah was given to Israel. |
Speaks to the time when Torah will be written on our hearts. |
|
Speaks to the coronation of The King. |
||
|
|
Atonement after the golden calf. |
Speaks to the wedding of the Lamb. |
|
Joy – Speaks to the wedding feast of the Lamb and the dwelling with HaShem. |
What makes the history in Biblical festivals more real and vibrant than the history celebrated in the festivals of other nations? The festivals are markers to relive the events of the past and prophecy about the future. Its history tends to ripple itself throughout the ages in each generation, as we relive the events being remembered and its future consequences. We shall see examples of how the historical events in the Jewish calendar have an effect on the observance, the spirit and meaning of these prophetic festivals on the seasons in which they are celebrated.
Because every festival is appointed its own theme and idea for which it is observed, we ought to be able to see other Torah events which have the same themes. The first festival sanctified by HaShem is Pesach (Passover).
Vayikra (Leviticus) 23:5 HaShem’s Passover
begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.
Pesach was also the first festival to be observed with Cain and Abel’s offering to HaShem (Bereshit [Genesis] 4:1-4), which sets the theme for redemption on the Hebrew month of Nisan 15. Any event, throughout the timeline of history, which mimics the themes identified in the Torah, are to have been done to its thematic festival and date. Let’s examine a couple of the events which took place during the festivals:
|
Event |
Delivered from: |
Scripture / Referrence |
|
PESACH (Passover) |
|
|
|
Abram leaves |
The exile in |
Bereshit (Genesis) 15:6-16 |
|
Abram goes to |
Egyptian bondage and exile |
Bereshit (Genesis) 12:10 - 13:4 |
|
Angels visit Abraham |
Circumcision pain |
Bereshit (Genesis) 18:1-18 |
|
Angels visit |
The |
Bereshit (Genesis) 19:1-29 |
|
Isaac is born and is Bound |
Jews delivered from death |
Bereshit (Genesis) 18:1-10 |
|
Event |
Delivered from: |
Scripture / Reference |
|
|
|
|
|
This was day 138 of the swelling of the water on the earth in the days of Noah. |
|
Bereshit 7:24 |
|
Yocheved had been hiding Moses for seventy days, after a six month and one day pregnancy |
|
|
|
HaShem sent The Bread from Heaven (manna). |
|
|
|
Hezekiah was celebrating the fourth day of the Second Hag ha-Matza. |
|
|
|
SHAVUOT |
|
|
|
The Torah was given on Shavuot. |
Torah was assign to the People of Israel. |
Shemot (Exodus) 19:1-11 |
|
Leadership was appointed. |
Leadership was assigned to the People of Israel. |
Shemot (Exodus) 19:18; Shemot (Exodus) 20:21 |
|
The Torah was delivered in all seventy languages. |
|
Shemot
(Exodus) 5:9 |
|
The tribe of Benjamin got wives on Shavuot. |
The tribe of Benjamin reassigned a place back with Israel. |
Judges 21:15-24 |
|
Abraham defeats the five kings and gives tithes to Melchizedek. |
The mitzva of tithing to was first assigned. |
Beresheet (Genesis) 14 |
Upon realizing that there are energies that are attached to each festival, one begins to find the significance and powers of time in that the future is found in the repetition of history and the Biblical festivals capture this very spirit. The careful observer will find that history does repeat itself throughout the ages. Yet it is not as fixed and as evident as that which is shown through the Biblical festivals. During the fasts of the fourth and fifth m