The Jewish Biblical Holidays in relation to the Coming of Messiah
A woman prays at the Western (Wailing) Wall during Rosh Chodesh.
“Then at the beginning of each of
your months [rosh chodesh] you shall present a burnt offering to the Lord: two
bulls and one ram, seven male lambs one year old without defect.” (Numbers
28:11)
The Chanukah begin anytime between the end of
November to the end of December. When is Chanukah? The Hebrew date is
always the same — the 25th of Kislev. But, of course, people are
really wondering what date the holiday falls on the Gregorian calendar. This
year, Chanukah starts on December 6 — so it is just a couple of weeks away. The date of Chanukah or any other Jewish holiday doesn’t
change from year to year; however, a Jewish year can change in length from 353
to 354 or 355 days long. And a Jewish leap year can be 383, 384 or 385
days long. Because the Jewish year is not the same length as the
year on the civil calendar, the dates of holidays seem to shift quite a bit.
A Jewish girl recites prayers after lighting the chanukiahs and Shabbat
candles at Chanukah.
candles at Chanukah.
Why are the two
calendars different in length?
The civil Gregorian calendar is based on the solar
cycle of 365 days, five hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds — the amount of time
it takes the earth to make one complete rotation around the sun. To correct the
problem of those extra hours, an extra day is added to February every four
years. This keeps the equinox (when the
sun shines directly on the equator) occurring on generally the same date every
year: March 19 or 20 and September 22 or 23. The Jewish calendar
is a luni-solar calendar. It considers three things: the yearly
rotation of the earth around the sun, the daily rotation of the earth on its
own axis, and the monthly cycle of the moon around the earth. Each new moon
cycle begins a new month or Rosh Chodesh. However, there are
approximately 12.4 lunar months in every solar year. In other words, a
lunar year is about 11 days shorter than a solar year. If the Jewish calendar
were a strict lunar calendar that has 29.5 days in a month, every 16 years or
so the Fall Feasts would be held in Spring, and Passover would be held in
autumn. This is the case with the Islamic month of Ramadan that shifts throughout
the seasons making a full cycle every 33 years.
The Passover
To keep the Jewish holidays and appointed times in
their correct seasons, every two or three years the month of Nissan begins
earlier and an extra month is added. This 13-month year is
called Shanah Me'uberet, literally, a pregnant year. The additional month of Adar 1
(also called Adar Aleph) is added before Adar, which is designated Adar 2.
Interestingly, Adar 1 is not used for celebrating such things as Yahrzeits (anniversary
of a death), Bar Mitzvahs and birthdays. Adar 2 is considered the
real month for honouring such occasions. The addition of the extra month
guarantees that Passover (Pesach) and the wheat harvest feast (Pentecost /
Shavuot) occurs in the spring. There is still a slight shifting, however,
that results in the Jewish High Holidays falling anywhere from early September
all the way into October. Between AD 320 and
385, Hillel II, the Nasi (Prince) of the ancient Jewish Sanhedrin, established
the calendar that is used today which follows a 19-year cycle, realigning the
lunar and solar calendars. In this system the extra month is added
on the 3rd, 6th, 8th, 11th, 14th, 17th and 19th years of the cycle. The
current cycle began at the start of the Jewish year 5758, which occurred on
October 2, 1997. The Gregorian calendar, however, was created in 1582 by Pope
Gregory XIII and proclaimed the official civil calendar of Britain and the
British colonies of America in 1752.
The new moon phase is the moon at its darkest in the night sky. The sky
almost appears to have no moon at all.
almost appears to have no moon at all.
Celebrating Rosh
Chodesh, the New Month
"And on your joyous occasions —
your fixed festivals and new moon days — you shall sound the trumpets over your
burnt offerings and your sacrifices of well-being." (Numbers
10:10) The beginning of a new month is pivotal in the Jewish calendar
because all of the holidays are marked by their month. Every month is
either 29 days (known as Chaser or lacking, in Hebrew) or 30 days (Malei or full).
The beginning of the month is called Rosh
Chodesh (ראש חודש / Head of the Month).
In Biblical times and today, Rosh Chodesh itself
is considered a minor holiday, much the same as the intermediate days of
Passover. In the Book of Samuel, we see that the new moon was honoured
with a feast: “David said to Jonathan, ‘Behold,
tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit at table with the king.
But let me go, that I may hide myself in the field till the third day at
evening.’… So David hid in the field, and when the New Moon feast came,
the king sat down to eat.” (1 Samuel 20:5, 24)
Although Jewish men and women celebrate Rosh Chodesh, women
have a special connection to this semi-holiday. It is traditionally believed
that because the women refused to relinquish their jewelry to the men in
the incident of the Golden Calf, they were given this special day as a kind
of holiday. The expressions of that holiday differ from community to
community.
have a special connection to this semi-holiday. It is traditionally believed
that because the women refused to relinquish their jewelry to the men in
the incident of the Golden Calf, they were given this special day as a kind
of holiday. The expressions of that holiday differ from community to
community.
“When I was
a young boy living in South Bend Indiana, attending the Hebrew Institute Hebrew
school, once a month we would have a party in celebration of the new moon or
the beginning of the new Hebrew calendar month,” said
Barry, a member of the Bibles For Israel team. “This meant an hour or so
away from our studies when we could drink juice, eat fruit and just have fun.” On
the Sabbath of Blessing of the month (Shabbat
Mevarkhim HaChodesh), which is the last Sabbath before Rosh Chodesh,
additional prayers are recited to create spiritual sustenance for the coming
month. The blessing asks God to renew the month “for life and for peace, for
gladness and for joy, for deliverance and for consolation.” Sometimes the
Sabbath before Rosh Chodesh is just a day before. In that case, the
Sabbath is called Shabbat Machar Chodesh (Shabbat of tomorrow’s moon). If the Sabbath
falls on the new moon, it is called Shabbat Rosh Chodesh and additional Torah (Numbers
28:11) and Haftarah (Isaiah 66:23) readings are added. The Shabbat
Rosh Chodesh Torah reading describes the Rosh Chodesh offerings at the Temple: “At the beginning of each of your months you shall
present a burnt offering to the LORD: two bulls and one ram, seven male lambs
one year old without defect.” (Numbers 28:11) The
Haftarah portion reveals that the nations will come to Jerusalem at the new
moon to worship before the Lord when Messiah returns: “‘From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to
another, all mankind will come and bow down before Me,’ says the LORD.” (Isaiah
66:23) This reveals that God has not and will not abandoned His
appointed times.
Carrying the Torah at Rosh Chodesh
On Shabbat Mevarkhim (the Shabbat that blesses the
new month), we remember the Sanhedrin’s role in sanctifying this new moon,
which was not always easy to spot in the sky. During its rebirthing phase,
the moon rises and sets with the sun for one or two days. Because of its
proximity to the sun during this time, the moon is difficult to impossible to
see. After its apparent absence, it reappears in the night sky as a faint
sliver in the west. In ancient times the Sanhedrin (also known as the
rabbinical city council) would only declare a Rosh Chodesh on the testimony of
two reliable witnesses. In a large courtyard called Beit Ya’azek, members of
the rabbinical council would question witnesses who had claimed to have seen
the new moon the previous day.
The Trumpet at the Feast of the New Moon
The members of the Sanhedrin knew astronomy well
and thus knew which questions to ask. They knew when the new
moon was to appear and where it could be seen. Nevertheless, the
sanctification of the moon required the testimony of two witnesses who had
actually seen it. As the witnesses arrived they would ask the following
questions:
- In which direction was the moon in relation to the sun?
- Was it to the north or south?
- How high in the sky did the moon appear?
- In which direction were the crescent’s tips facing?
- How wide was it?
In each case they would first question the older
member of the pair and then the younger. If their testimonies matched,
they would proclaim the 30th day as Rosh Chodesh making that a 29 day month,
and say, “Mekudash! (Sanctified!).” With everyone responding,
“Mekudash! Mekudash!” (Chabad)If no witnesses were found, the
following day was celebrated as Rosh Chodesh and the previous month became a
30-day month.
Women of the Wall pray on Rosh Chodesh in Jerusalem.
The Midrash (book of rabbinic stories and
teachings) teaches that the Jewish people who are holy (“And
you shall be holy to Me, for I, the Lord, am holy” (Leviticus 20:26))
sanctify (make holy) the new moon through their blessings of it. Today, shortly
after Rosh Chodesh every month, Jewish people go outside in a group to recite
the kiddush levanah prayer
(literally, sanctification of the moon),
in which we praise God: “And He directed the
moon to renew herself as a crown of glory to [the Jewish nation], who likewise
are destined to be renewed like her ...” (Chabad) Rosh
Chodesh is thus seen as a kind of second chance. It is a monthly
reminder: just as the moon is renewed from almost complete extinction “emitting
not an iota of light,” we are likewise “destined to be renewed like her.” In
Judaism this renewal is seen as a national rebirth when the Messiah returns,
which will be shared by the entire world. (Chabad) Just as the
moon wanes every month, the Jewish nation seemed to wane after the days of
Solomon. Nevertheless, Israel will be restored to her full brightness,
and the entire world will be impacted.
Jewish new moon celebration
New Moon, New Life
The rebirth of the moon at Rosh Chodesh reminds us
of the birth of our own lives. It, in essence, reminds us to approach God
as a child in simplicity, seeking a one-to-one connection with Him. To
accomplish this, a person must relate to God completely devoid of his own
personal qualifications in a sense of what the sages call mesirat nefesh —self-nullification
or self-sacrifice in God’s service.
Children, with their simple outlook on life, have no need to negate their
existence in order to connect with God. Rabbi Yossi Braun, writing for the
Chabad website, also compares the new month to the birth of a child
which always brings on a shower of mazel tovs (congratulations) and good feelings. Even though
babies cannot determine if they will have much to offer when they become full
grown, each of us rejoices at the birth of a child because we’re so glad that
God has given us a new life. “The reason we love children so much is because of
their innocence, simplicity, and purity. In truth, we don't appreciate
them for their virtues, for what they have, but for what they lack,” writes
Braun.
Rosh Chodesh in Jerusalem
Children, he says, are not trying to prove
anything; they just want to exist. “We celebrate our children for who
they are, or more correctly, because they are,” writes Braun. This step of
passing into creation is a greater achievement than any subsequent transitions
says Braun. All future achievements are built on this one thing: the very
fact that the child exists. And this is how the Jewish People relate to the
moon. At the middle of the month the moon is round and full and has
reached its perfection — but at Rosh Chodesh when it is a thin sliver, we
celebrate the mere fact that it exists at all. Braun compares this with the
life of each individual. “As a people, too,” he writes, “we have had
different phases: our better days when everything was dandy and rosy, and our
end-of-the-month waning times. But, we celebrate the fact that despite
all odds, we exist. We are. And we're here to stay.” It surely seems that the Jewish People were at times
throughout history “about to disappear from planet Earth — but so does the
moon. The shining of the moon anew each month reassures us of our
ultimate rebirth — the Redemption,” Braun concludes.
Moon phases
The phases of the moon remind us that no one is
perfect and that although we may fall, we are never diminished in God’s sight. “The righteous can fall even seven times, and rise again;
but the wicked stumble with evil.” (Proverbs 24:16) The
righteous fall but they get up again. Just as the moon rises and then
declines, we are reminded of the high and low points in everyone’s lives.
And just as the moon keeps coming back each month, we must never give up.
Similarly, just as the waning of the moon suggests its extinction, it reminds
us that at the darkest of times, when the Divine Presence seems to have left
our world, it is really only hidden from our view. The new moon also reassures
of ultimate rebirth at the Redemption. Those who know the Lord, the
Messiah of Israel, know that they are already redeemed by His blood. Consequently, the rebirth of the moon each month can be
for us a reminder of this rebirth, of this redemption from sin and death.
Sliver after the New Moon taken at sunset
The Final
Redemption — The Messianic Rebirth
Although the rabbis compare the coming Messianic
era to the full moon, the hope of redemption and His coming is compared to the
new moon. Its re-emergence is compared to the kingdom of David.
"Though it may have lost much of its former radiance, it will be restored
to its glory in messianic times," the Chabad website states. “Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to
David. His descendants shall endure forever and his throne as the sun
before Me. It shall be established forever like the moon, and the witness
in the sky is faithful.” (Psalm 89:35–37) The Talmud
(compendium of rabbinical teachings and discussions) teaches that when the
Messiah returns, the moon will cease to diminish
and remain as large and bright as the sun. So while the celebration
of the new moon reminds us of His coming, it also reminds us to renew our
awareness of His Presence in our lives, and to push forward into the growth
and change that He has for us, becoming all He created us to be. “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are
mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” (Psalm
8:3–4)
Please be a part of Adonai's end-time plan for the complete restoration of Israel by bring the love of God to the Holy Land and the nations. "In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy.... Even on My servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.... I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below... and all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Acts 2:17–21)
