Happy New Year!

Greetings, Happy New Year! The new moon of the new year was seen in Israel tonight. Following Lev. 23 for the festival dates is the following- Passover-Starts at sunset April 12th & ends at sunset April 13th, the Passover meal is eaten the night of April 13th. Days of Unleavened Bread is April 14th-April 20th. Wave Sheaf Day-April 20th. Shavuot-June 8th. Enjoy a special celebration tonight, Lori

Passover Sedar-Torah based or tradition?

Disclaimer- 2 Peter 2:21-Verily if would have been better for them not have known the way of righteousness than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment that was delivered to them.

Greetings,

Two weeks until Passover, how it times flying by so fast? It seems like just a few weeks ago we were celebrating Purim.

In this entry, we are going to be talking about the Passover Haggadh. My husband never wanted to go to a Sedar because of all of the manmade traditions, not Torah based activities that occur during the Sedar. I went to one in 2023 & I just about walked out. Why you may ask? Because it's not based in Torah. One of the ladies even said at the table I was sitting at, this isn't based in Torah but you can find some of the symbolism if you look. I was shocked, how can they say this is for Passover if it's not based in Torah?

Let's start by looking in scripture for the instructions for Passover.

The instructions for Passover are in Exodus 12, Leviticus 23, Numbers 9, Numbers 28 & Deuteronomy 16.

We are to eat lamb roasted by fire not boiled & unleavened bread. We are to have our shoes & coats on, walking sticks in hand & be ready to depart should the angel come knocking on our door that it's time to depart. We are also supposed to put lamb's blood on our door posts & lentils as a symbol of that first Passover.

The Sedar that I attended, everyone was dressed in fine clothes, fancy decorated tables, special sedar plates for the evening & special wine glasses.

I was thinking this is NOT Passover. This is rabbinical traditions. I'm going to cover a few of the "traditions" that are done during a Sedar.

Where does it say in Torah during the meal to lean to the left & then to the right?

Where is Torah does it say recline during the meal?

Where in the Torah does it say to dip your finger in the wine & do 10 drops for the Plauges of Egypt?

Where does it say in Torah you are to drink 4 glasses of wine?

Where does it say in the Torah to have a hard boiled egg on your plate? This is pagan in origins

Where in Torah does it say to have a table/chair for Elijah?

Some Haggadah's say that Yeshua partook of Passover the night before he died. But if you read, Matt. 26:29-I will not drink from the fruit of the vine until the day I drink it anew with you in the kingdom of God. Yeshua said himself, he didn't partake of the Passover. But many mistakingly think he did.

My husband would sit at his desk and say this in regards to manmade traditions that are done in relation to the festivals was this....."Don't add to God's law, don't take away from God's law so you can do God's law. Why can't they just do what the bible says to do? Why do they have to add their manmade traditions?" He would say this while he had a hand on his bible. He wouldn't say it in our study group directly but he tried indirectly to get them to look at them. I've mentioned Don't add or take away many times but they don't think it applies to this.

My next entry will be talking about Passover and the question if Yeshua could change Passover? Many think that Passover included foot washing and that Yeshua changed Passover. If he had done this, then he would've violated Torah which he NEVER did.

Until next time,

Lori

How do we know when the festivals are?

Disclaimer- 2 Peter 2:21-Verily if would have been better for them not have known the way of righteousness than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment that was delivered to them.

Greetings,

I know this entry is late. My work week was particularly stresful this past week. Three weeks until Passover, time is flying by.

So, how do we know when? How do we know when the new month starts? How do we know when the festivals are? As always, lets look to scripture for the answers.

Let's start in Ex. 12:2-This month shall be to you the beginning of months, it shall be the first month of the year to you. What distinction is there to the beginning of the month? Month is strong's #2320 in the Hebrew Chodesh, meanning New moon. The new moon marks the beginning of each month.

Each month, we are to go out & sight the new moon and then have a celebration. When our kids were young, we would order in food, watch movies & have a family night. When our kids left home & the faith, my husband & I had a date night & then discussed our goals we wanted to accomplish over the next month. Now that it's just me, I go out to the cemetary & watch for the new moon. When it's seen, I blow a shofar & then have a nice dinner somewhere. Sometimes I order in, depends on my budget. There are many Facebook groups that watch for the new moon is Israel for that is the promised land. One Facebook group is Biblical Calendar Forum: Aviv Barley and New Moon Reports from Israel, another one is Devorah's Date Tree - Restoring the Biblical Calendar and the last one is abibofgod.com Biblical Calendar information. The last one was saying the barley was Aviv the month before the rabbinical calendar said the festivals were to start.

We have weekly appointments with God-the weekly sabbath. We have monthly appointments with God-the new moon. And we have annual appointments with God, the annual festivals. WE DON'T WANT TO MISS THESE APPOINTMENTS with God. We want to make sure we are on time. We don't want to have the attitude of this is what everyeone else is doing which makes it easier or we're just doing what we know to do. We are to be a light to the world. (Matt. 5:14-16) If we know a way that is scripturally based, then we should be doing it and teaching others to do the same.

Once each new month has begun, then we can set the festival dates. Let's look to Leviticus 23 for these dates.

Lev. 23:2-3-Talking about the weekly sabbath. This is an easy one, the 7th day of the week is the sabbath, Saturday. The sabbath is a delight.

Lev. 23:4-These are the feasts of the Lord, the holy convocations which you shall proclaim in their seasons. Proclaim in their seasons, this is important. We need to make we are keeping the festivals at the right time according to what God tells us to do.

Lev. 23:5-8-On the 14th day of the first month at evening is the Lord's Passover. On the 15th day of the same if the feast of unleavened bread. For 7 days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day, you shall have a holy convocation, you shall do no work therein. And on the 7th day you must do a holy convocation and do no work therein.

The other 5 days you can work unless there is a weekly sabbath during that week. Something my husband & I started in 2021, we took the whole week off from work. We got work done around the house & the yard. We felt that taking those days off was something we should do. I have continued to do that & have been blessed as a result.

Now there is a day called the Wave Sheaf which I will cover in a later entry that falls during the week of Unleavened Bread.

Lev. 23:24-25-Feast of Trumpets/Day of Shouting, This new moon marks the beginning of the 7th month. We don't know when the 7th month begins until the new moon is seen. We have a good idea based on when the new moon was seen the month before & there are computer programs that will tell you when the new moon will be seen.

Lev. 23:27-32-This is the day of Atonement, Yom kippur, a day of fasting & prayer, this is the holiest day of the year, a day to draw close to God.

Lev. 23:34-42-This is Feast of Tabernacles/Sukkot, 8 days of praise, worship, living in tents/booths at a place that God chooses. There are many sites around the world to keep Sukkot. Many are Church of God based, some are messianic, some are Karaite & others are a mixture.

Now, according to the rabbinical calendar, the festival days can only fall on certain days & double sabbaths (back to back sabbath) aren't allowed. For example, accoring to this year's biblical observed calendar, Yom Kippur falls on a Friday which then leads into the weekly Sabbath. According to the rabbinical traditions, thaere has to be a preparation day leading up to a sabbath. According to this year's rabbinical calendar, Yom Kippur is on a Thursday, then you have the prepartion day on Friday & then the weekly Sabbath. Having a double sabbath is a blessing. It's 2 days in a row that God gives us to rest, worships & rejuvenate.

When the rabbinical calendar was made Hillel had to make a calendar as the Romans prohibited the Jews from going out and sighting the new moon to set the festival days. The rabbinical calendar is based on a 19 year cycle that is getting more off as time goes on. The rabbinical calendar also has 4 rules of postponement that acutally changes the dates of the festivals due these rules and stringent sabbath keeping rules of the Jews.

These are the 4 rules of postponement-

1. The Jewish New Year, Feast of Trumpets, may not fall on Sunday, Wednesday or Friday.

2. If the New Moon (molad) for the seventh month falls on Sunday, Wednesday or Friday, the New Moon is postponed until the following day.

3. If the molad of the seventh month in a common year occurs on Tuesday at 3:204/1080 A.M. or later, the New Moon is postponed until Thursday.

4. In a common year following a leap year, if the molad of the seventh month occurs after 9 a.m. and 589/1080 parts on a Monday morning, New Moon is postponed until Tuesday.

Now, I'll give you a few minutes, where are these rules in the Torah? Anyone?

Answer-They aren't. They violate the verses of don't add to God's word, don't take away from God's word so that you can do God's word. You are also putting the traditions of men ahead of the commandments of God. We are told in Rev. 18:4 to come out of her my people. We are to separate ourselves from the corrupt system of Babylon, meaning corrupt religious and worldly system.

My husband and I spent over a year looking at the the Biblical calendar before making the switch. A lot of study & prayer was done before we made the decision. We had a small sabbath keeping group that we brought the changes to & they diddn't want to change. They didn't see the need. We had the rabbinical calendar on business cards, one older gentleman said right or wrong, I'm going to go by what is on this card. He didn't want to follow God, he wanted to keep following traditions.

I barely scratched the surface of this topic. My husband wrote a couple of good articles on this topic. The first one is How do we know when? And the other one is New Moons, Yesterday, Today and Forever.

The next entry will be talking about the Passover Haggadah. This might be a touchy subject for some but it's another "tradition" that needs to be addressed.

Until next week,

Lori

When does the New Year begin?

Disclaimer- 2 Peter 2:21-Verily if would have been better for them not have known the way of righteousness than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment that was delivered to them

Greetings & Happy Sabbath,

Passover is just 4 weeks away, but how do we know when the new year begins? Does the new year begin when the rabbi's tell us it starts or does YHVH tells us when the new year begins? Well, of course the answer is when YHVH tells us it begins.

I've heard many arguments about only the Jews have the oracles of God and the authority over the calendar. BUT.....We are told several times in the bible Not to add to God's law, not to take away from God's law so that we can do God's law. (Deut. 4:2, 12:32 & Rev. 22:18) Many put the commandments of men ahead of the commandments of God. (Mark 7:8-13, Matt. 15:9)

So when does the new year begin? Let's look for the answer in Exodus & Deuteronomy.

Ex. 12:2-This month shall be to you the beginning of months, it shall be the first month of the year to you.

Ex. 13:3-4-3 Then Moses said to the people, “Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because the Lord brought you out of it with a mighty hand. Eat nothing containing yeast. 4 Today, in the month of Aviv, you are leaving.

Ex. 23:15-15-Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread; for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Aviv, for in that month you came out of Egypt.

Ex. 34:18-18-Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread. For seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Aviv, for in that month you came out of Egypt.

Deut. 16:1-Observe the month of Aviv and celebrate the Passover of the Lord your God, because in the month of Aviv he brought you out of Egypt by night.

Now, how do when know Aviv is? Simple, there are observers that go to the land of Israel & do a search for Aviv barley. This is barley that will be ripe for harvest in about 2 weeks for a sheaf to be put together for the Wave Sheaf offering that falls on the Sunday during the Days of Unleavened Bread. (more to come on this later) But, the Aviv barley isn't the only witness that the month of Aviv is coming up. There are actually 10 witnesses.

1. Barley – The primary witness. We look across the land prior to the end of the 12th Biblical month for Leviticus 2:14 stage barley to be available to harvest for a wavesheaf offering by the upcoming 10th day of the next month. This gave the Levites who were scattered across the entire Land, in 48 cities, time to reach Jerusalem and the Temple with potential first of the firstfruits barley offerings. If not found, we intercalate a month to give it more time to mature. The name of the month “Abib” gives a description of the state of the barley we are looking for. Exodus 12:1-2 And Yehovah said to Moses and to Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying this month shall be the Head (#7218 – to shake; the head (as most easily shaken) of months for you. It shall be the First (#7223) of the months of the year for you.

2. Rain and weather - Directly determines the maturation of wild barley. Rain and cold temps indicate a winter condition and slow this process down, while warm temps and sharav winds signal the end of winter bringing the barley to maturity where it is able to reproduce itself. Song of Solomon 2:11 For behold, the winter is transitioning, the (heavy) rain has passed, it goes to itself. Also, see Acts 14:17.

3. Flowers - Many start showing up in the second half of winter, but it is the red anemones in conjunction with the dropping of the wild oats that we specifically look for. This typically happens at about 3 weeks prior to the first fruit barley being in a middle dough stage. The wild oats marks the timing of anemones. Song of Solomon 2:12 The flowers appear on the earth….

4. Grapes - Here we are literally looking for this description given in Isa 18:4-5: For before the (barley) harvest, when the bud is breaking forth and becoming perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, then He will cast off the sprigs with pruning knives and cut down and take away the branches. We are looking for the start of new grape leaves shooting forth and the beginning of a sour bud in the old established vineyards (not designer grapes).

5. Fig Trees – Typically these give their witness in all the regions of Israel at the same time, unlike the anemones which bloom for a couple of months. It is an absolute sign that winter is almost over. Matthew 24:32 Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.

6, 7, 8, 9. Birds - Turtle Dove, Stork, Swift and Swallow. These birds are migratory species controlled by instinct through the increase of daylight from the sun as it approaches the equilux in Jerusalem (16th or 17th of March). We are talking about a major migration event here, not local wintering birds. Jeremiah 8:7 Even the stork in the heavens knows her appointed times; and the turtledove, the swift, and the swallow observe the time of their coming (because of instinct placed in them ruled by the sun cycle). In addition to the arrival of the turtle doves, Song of Solomon 2:12 makes a particular note of their singing as a witness.

10. Lambs – We are looking for male lambs from the sheep (unimproved Awassi breed) or goats, without blemish, less than one Biblical year in age and fully weaned from its mother. Exodus 12:3 Speak to all the congregation of Israel saying: on the 10th day of this month (Abib) every man shall take for himself a lamb according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. We look for them to be large enough to feed an entire household. This means it would not be a newly born baby lamb.

So you see, There is are 10 witnesses to the beginning of the year. Accoring to the Bullinger companion bible, 10 is the number of perfection. So we have a perfect number of witnesses.

How can we keep the month of the Aviv if we don't know when the barley is Aviv in the land of Israel?

Last year, there was a month's difference between the biblical observed calendar (Aviv barley & new moons) and the rabbinical calendar. All 10 of the witnesses were there for a mid-March new year but many thought since the gregorian calendar had a leap year, therefore the biblical observed calendar had to have a leap year as well. One has nothing to do with the other.

The Aviv barley plus the following New Moon, which will be talked about in the next entry mark when the new year starts and also the setting of the dates for the Spring festivals.

I did get an email address set up, it is atorahobservantwoman@gmail.com, if you have any questions or there is a topic you would like me to cover after the Passover series.

I also set up a Facebook page where I'll be posting my blog entries and other items of interest between weekly entries.

Until next week,

Lori

Hametz or not Hametz

Greetings,

We are only 6 weeks away from Passover, how has the time flown by so fast? It seems like it just a few months ago we were observing Passover in 2024.

As we get ready to toss leavening out of our homes, we always go thru the dilemma, is this leavening or is this not leavening. To answer this question, we need to understand what is Hametz, Hametz is product that has been allowed to ferment or rise, so this would be food that is pre-made with leavening in it.

This would included products with Yeast, baking soda & baking powder. Yeast extract is NOT Hametaz, Yeast extract is another name for MSG. If you have a baking product that hasn't been made, like a cake mix or cookie mix, this is NOT Hametez as the product isn't made, it hasnt't been allowed to ferment thru the mixing/baking process.

Baking soda & baking powder is not leavening in & of itself, it has to be added to water & flour in order to ferment. So, if you have pulled this from your pantry, go ahead & put it back. Yeast is Hametz as it's a fungus. Fungus can grow and ferment on it's own. This needs to be removed from the home.

What about sour dough bread? Many wives have gotten into the sour dough craze. Sourdough pulls yeast from the air & it carried over from day to day, so this would be Hametz. You would need to start over with a new batch over the Days of Unleavened Bread.

Now, when do these products need to be removed from the home. Jewish tradition has it by a certain hour on the day before Passover. The Days of Unleavened Bread starts at sunset on Abib 14. Passover starts at sunset on Abib 13 and goes thru sunset on the 14th. I try to have all the leavening out of the home before we sit down to eat the Passover meal on Abib 14. I don't want to worry about having to get rid of leavening as we are eating and heading into a night of watching heading into the 1st Day of Unleavened Bread.

I'm working on getting an email for this blog so you can email me with any questions. As soon as I have one, I'll post it.

Next week, I'll start covering on how do we know when the year starts. Then, I'll cover the difference between the rabbinical calendar and the biblical observed calendar. Many people don't want to talk about this because it's so controversial. If we are God's people, do we want to obey God or just do what everyone else is doing because it's easier?

Until next week,

Lori

New Moons and Moedims

Hi,

Here is a link to the New Moons and Moedims for 2025. Some of these dates are going to be different than the rabbinical calendar. Again, I'll be covering the difference in upcoming articles.

Expected New Moons and Appointed Times for 2025

Have a great week,

Lori