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11. The Added Fasts
There is no way to have more than a surface understanding of the events in Scripture without a working familiarity with the Hebrew calendar. It forms the backdrop for all the festivals and appointed times. The reason we need a calendar at all is because of three factors, which at present do not precisely line up with one another:
(1) The orbit of the moon around the earth (a month), which at present takes about 29.5 days.
(2) The rotation of the earth on its axis (a day), which takes about 24 hours.
(3) The revolution of the earth around the sun (a year), which requires about 365.24 days.
Most of us are more used to thinking in terms of the Gregorian calendar (a revision of the Julian calendar of Rome made official by Pope Gregory XIII). This calendar has two segments, traditionally labeled B.C. ("before Christ", which counts down to Yahshua's birth) and A.D. (anno domini, or "the year of our master", which counts upward since his birth, though the count is off by a few years). While most nations have adopted the same calendar, many, especially those who do not wish to recognize any authority of the Roman Catholic Church to name the era, use the terms C.E. ("Common Era") for the present era and B.C.E. ("Before Common Era", the equivalent of B.C. in numbering).
The Jewish calendar, in contrast, starts with creation, and the current date is derived by adding up the ages of people mentioned in Scripture and historical records since that time. For example, the Jewish year that overlaps with both 2007 and 2008 C.E. is numbered 5768.
This also shows that the year does not begin at the same time on both calendars. The Jewish year begins not on January 1, but on Rosh haShanah ("head of the year", but called Yom Teruah in Scripture), which falls on a new moon in the early autumn. That is when the numbered year changes. This follows the anniversary of Creation and the calendar that was in effect for the whole world until the time of the Exodus, and continued to be the "civil calendar" for Israel thereafter as well, much as many organizations have a "fiscal year" which begins halfway between January 1 and December 31 or even at other times.
But there is another calendar in Scripture which was given exclusively to Israel. YHWH declared that the month in which He brought Israel out of Egypt would now be the first month for us. (Shemoth/Exodus 12:2) This is six months after Yom Teruah, so that Yom Teruah begins the seventh month on the Hebrew calendar while it remains the first new moon on the civil calendar.
Both calendars continue to be used throughout Scripture. They run simultaneously. We have to look at contextual clues to determine which is being referred to in each particular case. While we use the Gregorian calendar with the world at large, and may have to initially translate from one to the other while we make the transition, we want to get to the point where, for example, if someone says, "When is Hanukkah this year?", the only answer that comes to mind is "On the 25th day of the 9th month, of course! That's when it always starts!"
The reason it "moves around" the Gregorian calendar is because a year is now never exactly twelve months long, and both calendars deal with this in different ways. The Gregorian calendar adds a day every "leap year", for example. The Jewish calendar adds a whole month every few years instead to keep the solar and lunar calendars aligned.
The way dates were determined in Biblical times was according to two major factors:
(1) The sighting of the new moon, which defines a new month. (Witnesses would go before the Sanhedrin and answer questions to determine if what they had seen fit the characteristics of a new moon.) The month begins when the moon is sighted in Israel, not the international date line or wherever in the world it might be first sighted, because "the Torah shall go forth from Tzion." (Mikha 4:2) It then continues westward as the sun sets in each time zone.
(2) The Aviv (which is when ripening barley reaches a stage at which firstfruits can be harvested in two weeks), which determines the first month of the year, in which Passover and this firstfruits offering must occur. Because the Aviv is not always reached by the end of the twelfth month, a thirteenth month must sometimes be added in order to keep the festivals aligned with the proper seasons of the year. The blooming of the almond tree is also noted in Scripture as a sign that the new year is about to begin--a reminder to watch for the Aviv.
The present-day Jewish calendar was developed out of necessity in the 4th century C.E. by Hillel II after there was no longer a large Jewish presence in the Land of Israel and even if someone was there to sight the new moon, it could not be communicated quickly enough to exiles in every location around the world, especially on days such as Rosh haShanah (Yom Teruah), when the festival begins right on the new moon. So a calculated calendar was devised which standardized the dates for many years to come. It determined that within a cycle of 19 years, a thirteenth month is added during the third, sixth, eighth, eleventh, fourteenth, seventeenth, and nineteenth years.
The extra month is added between the eleventh and twelfth months (fifth and sixth on the civil calendar), and called Adar I, while the month simply called Adar in other years is called Adar II. Thus Purim (the 14th day of the twelfth month) is celebrated in the final month of any year rather than the twelfth as such.
During the diaspora (dispersion), this calendar was of great help, but it is no longer necessary because of both the possibility of spotting the new moon in Israel and instant communication such as via telephone or the internet.
While the contrived calendar has been amazingly accurate for having been set so many centuries ago, it still occasionally does not line up with the Aviv and often sets the new moon a day or two off from the actual sighting. Therefore, some, like ourselves, have returned to the ancient method of observing the holidays based on the actual new moon sighting and the Aviv. A thirteenth month is simply added whenever the Aviv stage of barley has not been reached by the end of the twelfth month. Since we do not know until a few days beforehand whether there will be a thirteenth month, Purim must be celebrated in the actual twelfth month every year.
We must therefore sometimes distinguish between the Biblical calendar and the Jewish calendar as used today, though the new Sanhedrin in Jerusalem has on its agenda a discussion of the return to the sighting of the new moon as the defining factor for the calendar. Of course this makes dates much less predictable, but the Hebrew way is to be ready to pull up stakes every time the Ark of the Covenant and the cloud of Yahweh's presence move.
The two types of holy days prescribed in Scripture are the hag (which means "to move or dance in a circle") and the moed ("appointed time" or "appointment", based on the word for "to bear witness" since it bears witness to us of who YHWH is and makes us part of the witness as we participate). Hagim are a subset of the moadim.
Hag gives us a clue that we should not think of time as a straight line, but as an upward spiral that keeps passing the same points as it heads back toward the Garden of Eden--a level higher and a step closer each time if we stay on track!
CHAPTER 1
The First of the Appointed Times
One may be surprised to learn that Passover/Unleavened Bread is not the first of the festivals. The Sabbath is. It is called a "holy convocation" just as the other festivals are.
The first reference to the Sabbath (Shabbat in Hebrew) is right in the Creation account in Genesis. It was instituted on the seventh day of creation. Therefore the resting after the forming is also considered part of creation, and by doing the same as YHWH on this day, we also participate in creation. In the very first week of the earth as we know it, there was already a Sabbath. So there never was a seventh day that was not endowed with this title.
The number seven symbolizes completion. YHWH works in cycles of seven, both in nature and in the days prior to there being a command as such to observe the Sabbath. The cells in our bodies totally replace themselves every seven years. Six circles placed in a ring will naturally form a seventh the same size within them. This shows that we cannot have the other six days without a Sabbath. It is therefore known in liturgical tradition as "last in creation; first in Yahweh's thought." YHWH warned Noakh when the flood was seven days away. Noakh sent out the dove and raven in seven-day intervals. Yaaqov served seven years for his wife. Pharaoh had seven years of advance warning before the famine. Yoseyf mourned his father for seven days.
The core command, given at Mt. Sinai, is the fourth commandment of the ten: "Remember the Sabbath day, in order to keep it set apart. Six days shall you labor and accomplish all your work, but the seventh day is a day of ceasing for Yahweh your Elohim; on it you shall do no work." (Exodus 20:8-10) One of the ways of defining "work" not to be done on Shabbat in Jewish tradition lists 39 different activities involved in the construction of the Tabernacle. The word for "work" here is mal'akhah--work done as a "representative" of someone else, i.e., for pay. Another type of work is described by the word avodah in Hebrew--"service" as "slaves" to one another, the work of building the Kingdom, for many things not done elsewhere continued to be done in the Temple because it was for another purpose.
This is followed by some details such as the fact that we are not to let/make our servants or family or animals work. The Hebrew word shabbat means "to cease". This applies even in times of harvest. (34:21) This is important enough that even YHWH set His own work aside on this day. He considers it a sign that we are "open for business" with Him. (Ex. 31:13)
YHWH made the Sabbath a test of obedience even before He commanded its observance, when He withheld manna on that day after providing enough the day before for two days.
But very few details are given about how to remember it or observe it. Where not otherwise specified, the local authority has the right to specify how the community will do, as long as it does not conflict with or diminish direct Torah commands.
Some commands were given at a later time: e.g., not to kindle a fire. (Ex. 35:3) This also has a figurative meaning: we should not engage in unnecessary argument or strife on this day.
Some were given situationally. When someone was gathering sticks--as if in preparation to build a fire--he was brought to Moshe because there was no precedent for this. YHWH confirmed that we are not to even gather sticks on the Sabbath. (Num. 15:32ff)
The prophets later clarified that the overt commands about the Sabbath also imply that we should not buy or sell (Amos 8:5), carry a heavy burden (Yirm. 17:21-27; Neh. 13:19), or in other ways do our own pleasure (Yeshayahu 58:13), since it is a day dedicated to honoring YHWH. Yeshayahu (Isaiah) says YHWH will bring special blessing to those who consider "His set-apart day" a delight. (58:13) We have to decide to find delight in His commands.
It was Yahshua's custom to go to a synagogue on the Sabbath, though this is nowhere commanded in Torah. He considered it "righteousness" to do many things that originated in the traditions of his elders. (Mat. 3:15) The Epistle to the Hebrews also instructs us not to forsaking "synagoguing" (assembling together), though this was nowhere commanded in the Torah as such. (10:25)
The first three commandments deal with our relationship with YHWH Himself; the latter six with how we relate to our fellow Israelite. The Sabbath is a "hinge" tying both of these together, for it allows both ourselves and those who would otherwise have to work for us to have no other responsibility but to focus on YHWH for that day.
In the Temple, the gates to Court of Priests were only open on the Sabbath and festivals, highlighting just how important those days are to YHWH. (Y'hezq'El/Ezekiel 46:1 makes this mandatory for the next Temple.) The Sabbath has also been called "a queen", "a bride", and "a palace in time"--or a day in time in which we step outside of time. When Yahshua said, "The Sabbath is made for man, not man for the Sabbath", he did not mean it could be dispensed with, any more than a king who gave a valuable gift would be pleased if we damaged or discarded it. He expects us to take special care of it.
The operative words in the fourth commandment are "remember" (zakor) and "keep" (shomer), which means to "observe" or watch over like a guard. Shomerim is the term used for watchmen on the walls of a city. This indicates that we are to make sure nothing foreign to the Sabbath is allowed into it.
One very vivid way the Sabbath is guarded in Jewish tradition is to place an extra buffer around it--a fence to keep us from accidentally trespassing on it. This is done by making sure any fires needing to be lit are lit well before the Sabbath actually begins. The tradition that resulted from this once-practical necessity is to kindle two candles at least 18 minutes before the sun sets. (The Hebrew day runs from sundown to sundown.) The entire day leading up to Shabbat is called "preparation day".
Also, no fires are lit until at least 42 minutes after sunset when the Sabbath is over, effectively adding an extra hour to the time in which the rules of the Sabbath are in effect, thus making the joys of the Sabbath "overflow" into the rest of the week. Another way of determining when to close the Shabbat is when three stars are visible.
This forms the beginning for a special ceremony to welcome the Shabbat. It is a woman who kindles the lamps because it was a woman who first brought sin into the human experience, and for a woman to bring light back is a rectification of that.
After a song that welcomes the messengers (both human and otherwise) who bring the Sabbath and its "second soul" to us, the children are brought under a canopy and blessed by their parents using blessings based on Genesis 48:20 (for our sons) and Ruth 4:11 (for our daughters), and read part of Proverbs 31 about the "capable wife".
The next part of the ceremony is called Kiddush, which means "setting apart". It consists of a blessing said over a cup of wine and one over two loaves of bread braided to look like arms folded in rest. The two loaves are a reminder of the double portion of manna that YHWH provided on the sixth day so there would be enough for the Sabbath as well. After this point, the Sabbath is considered to have begun, and no more fires may be lit.
This is followed by a big dinner--sometimes the only fancy one of the week, especially if one is poor, to represent the fact that everyone who participates in the Sabbath is truly wealthy. The liturgy that opens the Sabbath relates it to not just creation, but the Exodus from Egypt as well, for on it we are free from the other constraints of everyday life. We can forget about our debts and the obligations that men lay upon us, and concentrate on YHWH.
In the synagogue, particular psalms are chanted or sung. Psalm 92 is written overtly for the Sabbath, and several of those that follow it are used as well, often incorporated into a larger liturgy.
A ceremony called havdallah ("distinguishing") marks the end of the Sabbath. A special candle with six wicks (representing the six days of the week) is used to show that the week is being "rekindled". One looks at the candlelight between one's fingers to see the contrast between the darkness where the flesh is in the way and the brightness of the light otherwise.
A box filled with sweet-smelling spices is passed around so that our last experience of the Sabbath is a memorable one.
We have some additional Sabbath customs at Congregation Beth Lechem:
Since most of us live within walking distance of the meeting place, we drive a vehicle only when absolutely unavoidable, since starting it is technically lighting a fire. The command to gather together takes precedence over not lighting this type of fire, if there is no way around it, since as a "holy convocation" no one can fully keep the Sabbath if in isolation. But we find that when we take steps to obey both commands if possible, YHWH provides a way.
During the months where the sun sets early, we do the Kiddush ceremony in our own homes before dinner, then assemble after dark. When the sun sets late, we have our dinner at home, then come together for the opening ceremony. Once a month we have a communal dinner at the beginning of the Sabbath as well as the following daytime.
We prepare all our food in advance, only re-warming the necessary items in an oven since this is no longer changing it from an inedible state to an edible one.
We wear special clothes that are different from what we wear on ordinary days, preferably those as close to ancient Israelite styles as possible. We remove our shoes and socks for any worship, liturgy, teaching session, or mealtime to remind ourselves that we are in a holy place--a sanctuary recalling the Temple (where the priests always went barefoot) or at a community table, which is the closest we can come to the altar (where the meat of peace offerings was shared with others who were in attendance there)--and maintain the appropriate decorum for such a setting.
We gather to welcome the Shabbat together as a community. For this we use a modified form of the traditional Jewish liturgy. We then continue with praise and thanksgiving through song and recounting of "deeds and wonders" that YHWH has done throughout the week and other things we are thankful for. Then we sit and chat quietly while music is playing in the background until everyone becomes tired. We leave enough time for refreshing sleep before regathering in the morning for more singing and Torah reading in Hebrew and teaching by the congregational leader from the same passage that is read. Then the floor is open to questions and additional comments or insights from others in the congregation.
After a snack break, we either study another part of Scripture together or have a topical study, sometimes allowing others in the congregation to lead. We then have a large communal meal with high standards for quality in the preparation since this day is to be higher than all others in the week.
When the time of year leaves us enough daylight after all of this, we have additional classes--Hebrew at various levels, children's lessons, etc.--or naptime!
We close the Sabbath together with a havdallah ceremony with one of the boys in the congregation leading the liturgy by memory. As the spices are passed around, we mention things that were "sweet" or "spicy" during this particular Sabbath, and while looking at the flame between our fingers, we note any distinctions that were emphasized this Shabbat, especially during the Torah teaching.
We sing songs at appropriate pauses in the liturgy, which are taken from that part of the liturgy--the traditional U-sha'avtem mayim b'sasson ("with joy you can draw water") and a home-written version of Hoshianah ("Please save!")
When the Sabbath ends it is clear that the Kingdom, which the Sabbath prefigures, has not yet come. So with a note of sadness, we sing "Eliyahu ha Navi", a song that asks that Elijah the prophet be brought back to us swiftly and in our day along with the Messiah (based on Malachi 4:5)--to restore all things (Mat. 17:11).
The Sabbath is officially over when the candle is lit at the beginning of havdallah, thus making the entire ceremony a "spilling over" of the Sabbath into the next week.
