Yom Teruah – Day of Blasting / aka Festival of Trumpets
Yom Teruah begins on the first day of Chodesh Shv’i (Seventh New Moon) and is a Shabbat like day and all work is forbidden. It is the only festival celebrated at the beginning of the month. The only one celebrated in a time of darkness. Yom Teruah is a feast of beginning and literally means a “Day of Shouting or Blasting”. This word can describe the noise made by a shophar or trumpet, but also describes the noise made by a large gathering of people shouting in unison.
Hebrew tradition teaches that Chodesh Shv’i is the new moon when Yahweh crowed the King, and is likewise the day when the King is to return to pass judgement on the world. One is judged on Yom Teruah and one’s doom is sealed 10 days later on Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). The trumpet will be sounded on Yom Teruah to signify the second coming of Yahusha, when he returns to pass judgement. If your name isn’t already written in the Book of Life, then you have a 10-day tribulation period between Yom Teruah and Yom Kippur to repent and atone for your sins before the Book of Life is opened, on Yom Kippur, and the verdict is sealed. In the Scriptures, 10 days is sometimes referred to as the time-period for trials and tribulations.
Yom Kippur – Day of Atonement
The literal translation of Yom Kippur is “Day of Atonement”. It occurs on the 10th day of Chodesh Shvi’i (Seventh New Moon), just before the Fall harvest. Yom Kippur is a holy day, and all work is forbidden. It is a day of intense relationship with Yahweh and is a day of self-abnegation and prayer. Yom Kippur is the only day when the High Priest could enter the “holy of holies” in the ancient Temple in Yerushalayim. Yom Kippur is often referred to as the Shabbat of Shabbats (Sabbath of Sabbaths); it is considered the most holy of the set-apart Shabbats. It is the holiest day of the entire year and is generally spent fasting and praying for forgiveness. It’s the moment of the most intense spiritual experience, the moment of atonement, the moment when all misdeeds are covered over. Yom Kippur is the day to forgive others of theirs sins against you and for you to repent and atone for your sins against others and against Yahweh. Most Hebrew set-apart days involve festive meals, but Yom Kippur involves affliction of one’s soul instead.
By refraining from certain activities, the body is made uncomfortable. Since the soul is the life force in a body, one’s soul is also made uncomfortable. Affliction of one’s soul was accomplished by acts like dry fasting (no food or water), forgoing marital relations, etcetera. The 10-day tribulation period starts with repentance on Yom Teruah and is completed with full atonement on Yom Kippur. At the time of the Second Coming, one will be judged on Yom Teruah and one’s doom sealed 10 days later on Yom Kippur when the Book of Life is opened.
Atonement / Repentance Correlation
Repentance is one element of atoning for one’s sin. To repent is to feel sorrow, regret or pain for what one has done or omitted to do. To atone is to make amends, reparation or compensation for a sin, an offence or a crime one has committed.
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Chag Sukkot is celebrated on the 15th day of Chodesh Shvi’i (Seventh New Moon), at the full moon. The Festival of Sukkot lasts 8 days with the first and last day being Shabbat-like holy days where all work is forbidden. During the time of the yearly festival, the congregation of Yisrael had to construct a sukkah (booth) and stay in it for 8 days. The first day of the festival is the set-apart day called the Festival of Asif (Festival of Ingathering), a day of reaping the benefits of all our works. It occurs after the harvest in the fall and is a time of fulfillment and rejoicing. The Festival of Sukkot is one of 3 pilgrimage festivals appointed by the Scriptures and is the only festival associated with an explicit commandment to rejoice.
The Hebrew word sukkot is the plural of sukkah, in English it’s interpreted as booth or hut. A sukkah is a temporary structure with outer walls and a roof constructed of leafy tree branches. It was a dwelling that farmers occupied during harvest time. The Festival of Sukkot is a time for remembrance of the feeble habitats occupied by the Hebrews during their 40 years of wandering in the desert after their emancipation from slavery in Mitsrayim. Yahweh established the Festival of Sukkot to ensure that the congregation of Yisrael would always remember their journey in the desert, from Mitsrayim to Canaan (Israel/Jordan), when they had to live in booths. Mosheh often warned the Hebrews not to forget Yahweh their Elohim, who redeemed them from slavery, once they entered the land of milk and honey. Living in booths for a week is a tangible reminder of Yahweh’s provision in the wilderness for the congregation of Yisrael and that their bountiful life in Canaan was on account of Yahweh’s grace. It was Yahweh who had brought them to the Promised Land, and it is Yahweh who will take everything away if they do not follow his laws, statues and judgments; specifically commemorating their journey.
Sukkot is a time for the Hebrews to remember the great harvest they just completed, the wealth they have achieved, and the freedom they gained all happened entirely through the grace of Yahweh. Like most of the ancient Hebrew festivals, its first day is a set-apart day for holy convocation derived from agricultural customs and revolves around the Exodus of the Hebrew slaves. However, unlike any other festival, it has an 8th day, tacked on at the end of the usual 7-day festival cycle. The 8th day brings the Sukkot period to its state of perfection. A day held back in order to complete the cycle; the seed gone underground in apparent death, only to give new life in the Spring. A sign of the commencement of the impending winter, of having less, of internalization and starting over again, that moment when the Hebrew people no longer had to live in booths. It represents a moment in time that hasn’t happened yet, the moment of fulfillment when all work is complete, like when the congregation of Yisrael could enter the Promised Land. It is symbolic of the moment of Mosheh’s death: a death that moves at once towards new life, towards the people crossing the River Jordan into Canaan, the Promised Land. Like other festivals, it is also prophetic. The Festival of Sukkot is a look to the future, when the new heaven and earth are formed. As it declares in the Scriptures, even after the new heaven and new earth are formed, all nations must still go up year after year to worship the King, Yahweh of Hosts.
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The Hebrew word shavuot means “weeks” in English. Chag Shavuot is a festival of revelation, which occurs 7 weeks and 1 day (50 days) after Pesach. It falls between May 15 and June 14 on the Gregorian calendar. The 7 days of weeks (49 days) count starts on the 2nd day of the Festival of Matzot, the day after Pesach, and ends the day before the Festival of Shavuot, the 50th day. It is the moment where the Hebrew people met Yahweh face to face on Mount Sinai to receive the 10 Commandments and the Laws of Mosheh. The Festival of Shavuot is one of the 3 scripturally ordained Pilgrimage Festivals. It marks the time of the wheat harvest in Yisrael and is sometimes referred to as the Festival of Harvest or the Day of the First Fruits.
The festival commemorates the anniversary of Mosheh receiving the Laws from Yahweh at Mount Sinai. It recounts the seven weeks the Hebrew people where lead by Yahweh himself, appearing by day as a cloud and at midnight as fire, after they left Mistrayim and before receiving the Laws of Mosheh, on the 50th day, at Mount Sinai. The counting of days and weeks is understood to represent spiritual preparation, anticipation and desire of the children of Yisrael to receive the Laws of Mosheh so they could again know how to serve Yahweh. The “Book of Ruth” is traditionally read on the morning of the Festival of Shavuot because the story takes place during the harvest season, and because of the symbolism associated with Ruth as the great-grandmother of King Dawid (King David), who was born and died on Shavuot.
Refer to the “Counting the Weeks Table” below for additional information pertaining to The Festival of Shavuot.
Counting the Weeks of Shavuot – Hebrew Names
Counting the Weeks of Shavuot – English Translation
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The Pesach is a festival to memorialize the night of the Hebrew people’s emancipation from slavery in Mitsrayim (Egypt). It’s the night they left the land of Mitsrayim on their Exodus to the Promised Land, the night that Yahweh unleased His 10th, and final plague. The Pesach festival re-counts the biblical narrative of when Yahweh “passed over” the homes of Hebrew families who put blood on the doorposts and lintel so that their first-born children would be spared during a plague that killed all the other first-born babies in Egypt. The Hebrew word Pesach as a verb, meaning to jump, skip, or pass over. As a noun, referring primarily to the animal-victim that was slaughtered, but secondarily to the period connected with the slaughter of the victim. The “Pesach Festival” involves the skipping, or passing over, an imperfect goat or sheep to select one without blemish. It also relates to the time-period associated with the Pesach from the time it’s slaughtered to the time that the meal has been prepared and eaten. The Scriptures provide all the “pesach” (sheep or goat) selection parameters. It reveals what type of animal that we must select, when we must select it, and how we must select it.
They provide a comprehensive explanation of the pesach meal preparation process, including the time-frame for cooking it, how to dress when eating it, who may eat it, and even what to do with the leftovers. Likewise, the Scriptures dictate the selection parameters for the “Pesach Festivities” of the Chosen people. Just as an imperfect animal is passed over to select the perfect animal, so too were homes with the blood on its door posts and lintels selected to be passed over by the angel of death. As with the pesach victim, there is an appointed time when the particular steps in the Pesach Festival must take place. For instance, the plague would be unleashed (midnight). The children of Yisrael had to remain inside their dwellings from the start of the Pesach, at sunset on the 14th, until sunrise the next morning, on the 15th. And at sunrise, they had to grab their unleavened bread and leave Mitsrayim with utmost haste. Yahweh’s ordinance given to Mosheh in the Book of Exodus directing the freed Hebrew slaves to remember and celebrate the Festival of Pesach for all their generations to come was given with the utmost forethought. It wasn’t a decree made by happenstance. That the Messiah’s death occurred on the eve of the Festival of Pesach at the time decreed to slaughter the pesach animal of the Pesach meal, is no mere coincidence. Like other scripturally ordained Festivals, he planned the Pesach from Creation to foreshadow and commemorate significant scriptural events. Thus, Pesach is both a celebration of the congregation of Yisrael’s emancipation from slavery and a commemoration of the killing of the ultimate Pesach, his only begotten son.
Some religions consider the Festival of Pesach and the Festival of Matzot as the same festival called by a different name, but the Festival of Matzot is actually in reference to the entire 7-day festival period and the Pesach festival is a portion of the first day, a set-apart day, of the 7-day Festival of Matzot. The Pesach relates to the process of passing over the animal or the doorpost, and Matzot commemorates the Hebrews leaving Mitsrayim with nothing but unleavened bread. The two festivals overlap and are intertwined. Whenever the Scriptures speak of the Pesach, it typically refers to it as “this day”, and speaks of it as one particular day. The earliest possible date that Pesach can occur is March 21st and the latest date is April 20th.
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Chag Matzot is a 7-day long festival that occurs in the Spring. It starts on the evening of the 14th day of Chodesh Rishon (First New Moon), the first month, and ends on the 21st day. It is a moment of birth and newness, a time to rise up. The first day of the Festival of Matzot is a holy set-apart day called the Pesach festival. The first and last day of the festival are celebrated as holy days with special meals, special prayers services and abstention from all servile work. Pesach is a festival to commemorate the Hebrew people’s emancipation from slavery in Mitsrayim, the time when they rose up against Pharaoh. The scriptural account describes the Hebrew people as they fled Mitsrayim with such urgency they could not wait for their bread dough to rise; when it was baked later, it was matzo (unleavened) and as they traveled through the desert, they had nothing to eat but matzo bread. The Festival of Matzot is one of the 3 scripturally ordained Pilgrimage Festivals. Matzo is defined as unleavened flat bread. The plural of Matzo is Matzot. Matzo bread consists of only water and flour, with no yeast, shortening, or other enriching agents. Matzah recreates the hard “bread of affliction” provided to the Hebrew slaves by their ruthless masters. Like the bitter herbs used to season the Pesach animal, it represents the suffering and degradation of the people of Yisrael. Matzah was the hard slave bread; we eat it instead of the rich, soft bread that was eaten by free people.
Yeast
The Scriptures often use “yeast” or “leaven” to symbolize sin. In cleaning it out of our homes, we realize how difficult it is to find and remove all of it. When we see how difficult it is to remove the leaven out of our homes, we realize just how difficult it is to get the sin out of our lives. In the same way, it’s easier to get the big, obvious sins out of our lives, but more difficult to get the hidden, seemingly small ones out before they rise up.
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Titus Flavius Josephus, originally named Yosef ben Matityahu, was born in 37 AD in Jerusalem and died in 100 AD in Rome. He was a Hebrew historian , priest and academic scholar who composed several books on the Hebrew revolt of 66–70 and on prior Hebrew history.
Matityahu went to battle against the Romans during the First Hebrew–Roman War as commander of Hebrew troops in Galilee , before conceding in 67 CE to Roman troops commanded by Vespasianafter the 6-week blockade of Jotapata . He believed the Hebrew Messianic prophecies that initiated the First Hebrew–Roman War were alluding to Vespasian becoming Emperor of Rome. After his surrender, Vespasian kept as a slave and interpreter. When Vespasian became Emperor in 69 CE, he gave Josephus his freedom, and Josephus took the emperor’s family name of Flavius. Flavius Josephus defected to the Roman army and became a Roman citizen. Josephus became an advisor to Vespasian’s son Titus, serving as Titus’ translator when he commanded the Siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE. Because the siege didn’t stop the Hebrew revolution , the city’s ruin and the destruction of Herod ’s Second Temple came shortly afterward.
Josephus chronicled Hebrew history, with an emphasis on the first century CE and the First Hebrew–Roman War (66–70 CE), especially the Siege of Masada . His most influential publications were The Jewish War (c. 75) and Antiquities of the Jews (c. 94). The Jewish War recounts the Jewish revolution against Roman occupation. Antiquities of the Jews describes the world’s history from a Hebrews viewpoint for a Greek and Roman audience. Josephus’ writings are a vital source of our knowledge of Hebrew people, their history and antiquity of ancient Palestine during the first century.
(c. 97) Flavius Josephus Against Apion, Against Apion, Contra Apionem, or Against (c. 99) The Life of Flavius Josephus, or Autobiography of Flavius Josephus (abbreviated Life or Vita) (c. 97) Flavius Josephus Against Apion, Against Apion, Contra Apionem, or Against the Greeks, on the Antiquity of the Jewish People (usually abbreviated CA)
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Initially published in French in 1903 as the Nahum Slouschz’s doctorate thesis at the University of Paris, this book explores the resurrection of Hebrew as a literary language and presents an analysis of the literature it has contributed, by a “grievous spectacle of poets and writers who are constantly expressing their anxiety lest it disappear within them.” European in extent and encapsulating all the passion and discord of the writings of a nation trying to find its voice, this is a compassionate and encouraging work, one that anyone will find practical and entertaining. The evolution from Medieval Hebrew to Israeli or Modern Hebrew developed over many years. Many scholars tell us that the language began to change by the early 16th century. Amongst the first appearances were the first Yiddish‑Hebrew dictionary by Elijah Levita (1468‑1549), A. dei Rossi’s Me’or Einayim (1574) and the first Hebrew play by J. Sommo (1527‑92). They adapted Hebrew to modern needs, and it remains in use in writing today.
The Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment)
The first Hebrew newspapers appeared in the 18th century. I. Lampronti (1679‑1756) at Ferrara and, from 1750, M. Mendelssohn at Dessau were the forerunners. A periodical, Ha‑Me’assef, ran quarterly from 1784 to 1829. The “Society of Friends of the Hebrew Language” edited it, and it contained many writings from prominent leaders of the Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment) movement. In 1856 they printed the first weekly newspaper, Ha‑Maggid, in Russia. The leaders of the Jewish Enlightenment sought to revive Hebrew as a thriving language, by working to purify the language and advocating its correct use.
They likewise strengthened its capacity for communicating by borrowing and translating words from German and other Western languages. Many of the group’s leaders wanted to preserve Rabbinic Hebrew as an authentic element of the modernized language, but the bulk of them agreed to adopt the unadulterated form of Biblical Hebrew for verse and on an Andalusian style for writing instead. The Andalusian style is comparable to that practiced in the 12th and 13th centuries by the well-known family of Jewish translators, the Ibn Tibbons. Many writers in the latter part of the 19th century paved the way for modern Hebrew; especially the playwright D. Zamoscz, who composed the first contemporary play in 1851, and novelist like A. Mapu who wrote the first book in this new style, and Yiddish linguists such as S.J. Abramowitsch. Many of the 19th‑century authors sought to adopt a biblical form of the language and usually established a framework contradictory to its essence and that typically contained many grammatical errors. Mendele, who penned in both Hebrew and Yiddish, adopted into his terminology from various sources, including Biblical Hebrew and Yiddish. He along with many other writers made significant strides towards making sure that Hebrew would again become a spoken language.
Hebrew in Palestine (Pre-State Israel)
The printing of Eliezer Ben-Yehuda’s editorial titled “A burning question” in 1879 spawned a new generation of the Hebrew language. It made spoken Hebrew one of the most significant facets of the new settlement in Palestine.
Many Palestinian Jews already used Hebrew as a language spoken by individuals who had differing primary languages. However; Hebrew was never implemented universally, and the different emigrant communities persisted in speaking their primary languages. A primary element that helped Ben‑Yehuda to reestablish the Hebrew language was the absence of an existing nationalized language in the country, an eagerness by eastern and central European Jews to restore their culture, and remembrances of the ancient nobility that the Jews had previously experienced in Palestine. While in Jerusalem in 1881, Ben‑Yehuda moved forward with his aspiration of transforming Hebrew into a language fit for everyday practice. Ben-Yehuda set out to advance a fitting terminology, in which he blended words from archaic and out-of-date literature to form original words incorporated into his Thesaurus. Ben‑Yehuda describes the processes utilized for tailoring the language daily use in his Thesaurus. The biggest hindrance to establishing Hebrew as a widespread language was the origination of new words. Therefore, discovering new words became the primary task of Ben‑Yehuda and the Language Council. Mechanisms established to adapt Hebrew for everyday practice include the addition of words taken from Arabic, based on their linguistic closeness to Hebrew, and a return to the scientific and specialized Hebrew terminology of the Ibn Tibbons translations. Ben‑Yehuda adopted many effective Hebrew and Aramaic phrases, and Latin and Greek loanwords, from the Talmud and the Mishnah. They applied Aramaic linguistic patterns and suffixes for infrequently used biblical words, and root words confirmed in Biblical Hebrew were manipulated to extract new words conforming to their historic morphological forms.
Nahum Slouschz
Nahum Slouschz was born on November 1872 in Smarhon, Vilna district, Byelorussia and died in Tel Aviv, Israel on December 23, 1966. Slouschz was a Russian-born Israeli archaeologist, writer and linguist recognized for his research of the “secret” Hebrew communities in North Africa, particularly, Ethiopia, South Africa, Tunisia and Libya, but also in many secluded territories of Africa, and also in Portugal.
When he was 10 years old, the family moved to Odessa where his father, R. Dovid-Shloyme, became the rabbi at a temple on the outskirts of Moldavanka. Besides being a rabbi, Nahum’s father was a member of the Lovers of Zion and a Hebrew writer.
Nahum frequently studied the Talmud and the Tanakh with his father, in addition to learning foreign languages and worldly studies from his private tutors.
At nineteen, the Hovevei Zion Society of Odessa sent him to Palestine to research the possibility of settling a territory in the Holy Land. He was not unsuccessful and returned home, but did return to Palestine in 1919 and became a permanent resident of the country. In 1896 he traveled to Austria and Lithuania and Egypt before going back to Palestine.
Slouschz graduated from the Rabbinical Seminary in Odessa, and afterward taught Hebrew literature at Sorbonne University in Paris, and then in America. He was an associate of Theodor Herzl, the founder of the Zionist Organization, and was known as the father of the State of Israel. Slouschz headed archeological expeditions in Tiberias and Jerusalem.
He studied philosophy and belles-lettres at the University of Geneva in 1898. During this period, Nahum assisted in the set-up of the Swiss Federation of Zionists. He travelled to Paris in 1900, where he learned Oriental languages. He worked as a journalist at several newspapers, including Ha-Melitz and Ha-Tsefirah. In 1902, he taught school in Auteuil. In 1903, he finished his doctorate at the University of Paris and wrote his thesis on the topic of the renaissance of Hebrew literature. His thesis was initially published in French and a later revision in Hebrew under the title “Korot ha-Sifrut ha-Ìvrit ha-Hadasha.” The English version was released in 1909 incorporating new material, and was published under the title The Renascence of Hebrew Literature (1743-1885). In 1904, he taught on Neo-Hebraic composition at the University of Paris.
Publicated Wroks
Among his best works were books entitled “Across Unknown Jewish Africa,” and “The Renaissance of Hebrew Literature.”
His first article was written in 1887 called Haeshkol (The Cluster), and he later wrote articles for: Hamelits (The Advocate), Hatsfira (The Siren), Hapisga (The summit), Haḥavatselet (The Daffodil), and Voskhod (Sunrise), among others. At that time, he published in book form: Kat hamityahadim berusya (A group of converts to Judaism in Russia) (Vienna, 1889); Ma yaase haadam velo yeḥele (What a person needs to do so as not to get sick) (Jerusalem, 1891), 46 pp.; Haosher meain yimatse (Where is happiness to be found?) (Jerusalem, 1894); and Mnemotekhnik (The art of memory), in Russian.
In 1903 he obtained his doctoral degree for his treatise, La Renaissance de la littérature hébraique, 1734-1885, and it was later published in book form in French (Paris, 1903) and in Hebrew as Korot hasifrut haivrit haḥadasha (Warsaw, 1906), and in English as Renascence of Hebrew Literature (1909).
Awards
Nahum Slouschz won the Bialik Prize for Jewish thought in 1942. The Bialik Prize is a yearly literary award presented by the city of Tel Aviv, for notable achievements in Hebrew literature.
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Ancient Hebrew vs Modern Jewish Calendar Comparisons
The “Ancient Hebrew Calendar” was a lunisolar calendar that depended on both the moon and the sun to calculate its durations. In ancient times, the duration from one new moon to the next determined the duration of what we now refer to as a month, and they based the duration of the days and years on the cycle of the sun. The time from one sunset to the next sunset was one day, and the time required for the earth to make one complete revolution around the sun was one year. Another way to think of a year is that it’s the time from one vernal (Spring) equinox to the next (365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 45.51 seconds). The average duration of a new moon cycle is 29.528 days, so a year of 12 lunar moon cycles (months) would be 354.367 days long; and the calendar year is a solar year, which is 365.242199 days long. Therefore, the ancient Hebrew calendar year sometimes has an intercalary (extra) new moon cycle depending on when the vernal equinox occurs in relation to the new moon closest to its date. Our website calendar uses Hebrew names, and transliterated English names for the holy/set-apart festival days, the new moons and the days of the week. Since agriculture was the largest part of the economy during ancient times, biblical scribes often use agricultural imagery to describe what Yahweh wanted his people to understand. Likewise, many of the set-apart festivals also have agricultural themes. The Rosh Chodesh (New Moon) and the Shabbat (Sabbath) are closely associated, as both are holy/set-apart days unto Yahweh and observing the new moon is as equal in importance as keeping Shabbat. Yahweh chose the children of Yisrael (Israel) to be a beacon of light to the Gentiles, a divine, set-apart nation to reveal His splendid light. At the birth of each new moon the Hebrews were called to put away their routine worldly duties, to ponder the reason they were chosen to reveal His existence to the world.
Relevant Scriptures
Numbers 10:10 “And in the day of your gladness, and in your appointed times, and at the beginning of your New Moons, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your fellowship offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your Elohim: I am Yahweh your Elohim.”
2 Chronicles 8:12-13 “Then Shelomoh (Solomon) offered burnt offerings to Yahweh on the altar of Yahweh, which he had built before the porch, (13) Even as the duty of every day required, he observed the daily requirement for offerings according to the commandment of Mosheh (Moses) for Sabbaths, New Moon’s, and the three annual appointed festivals – the Festival of Matzot (Festival of Unleavened Bread), the Festival of Shavuot (Festival of Weeks), and the Festival of Sukkot (Festival of Booths).”
2 Chronicles 2:4 “Behold, I will build a temple to the name of Yahweh my Elohim, to dedicate it to him, and to burn before him sweet incense, and for the continual shewbread, and for the burnt offerings’ morning and evening, on Shabbats, and on the New Moons, and on the appointed feasts of Yahweh our Elohim. This is an ordinance for ever to Yisrael.”
Isaiah 66:23 “And it shall come to pass, from New Moon to New Moon, and from Shabbat to Shabbat, all flesh shall come to worship before me, says Yahweh. “
Ancient Hebrew Calendars, Jerusalem (Israel)
Ancient Hebrew Calendar, Georgia (USA)
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Legends of Babylon and Egypt in Relation to Hebrew Tradition
The interconnected influences of different traditions of ancient mythology on one another consumed the archaeological efforts of the late 19th and early 20th century, though much work in Britain and Europe was interrupted by the outbreak of World War I. This fascinating 1918 study-adapted from a series of lectures delivered to the British Academy in 1916 rings with the frustration of its British author. A renowned classical scholar, King incorporates the then latest research from American academics into his intriguing analysis of the impact of Babylonian and Egyptian mythology on the foundations of Judaism. Drawing on newly discovered five-thousand-year-old texts, he weaves a narrative of the folklore of human origins unbroken from our earliest collective memories. His comparison of the creation and deluge stories from a range of ancient Old-World civilizations remains compelling today. Biblical myths are found mainly in the first 11 chapters of Genesis, the first book of the Bible. They are concerned with the creation of the world and the first man and woman, the origin of the current human condition, the primeval Deluge, the distribution of peoples, and the variation of languages.
Egyptian Literature
The basic stories are derived from the popular lore of the ancient Middle East; parallels can be found in the extant literature of the peoples of the area. The Mesopotamians, for instance, also knew of an earthly paradise such as Eden, and the figure of the cherubim—properly griffins rather than angels—was known to the Canaanites. In the Bible, however, this mythical garden of the gods becomes the scene of man’s fall and the background of a story designed to account for the natural limitations of human life.
Similarly, the Babylonians told of the formation of humankind from clay. But, whereas in the pagan tale the first man’s function is to serve as an earthly menial of the gods, in the scriptural version his role is to rule over all other creatures. The story of the Deluge, including the elements of the ark and the dispatch of the raven and dove, appears already in the Babylonian myths ofGilgamesh and Atrahasis. There, however, the hero is eventually made immortal, whereas in the Bible this detail is omitted because, to the Israelite mind, no child of woman could achieve that status. Lastly, while the story of the Tower of Babel was told originally to account for the stepped temples (ziggurats) of Babylonia, to the Hebrew writer its purpose is simply to inculcate the moral lesson that humans should not aspire beyond their assigned station. Scattered through the Prophets and Holy Writings (the two latter portions of the Hebrew Bible) are allusions to other ancient myths—e.g., to that of a primordial combat between YHWH and a monster variously named Leviathan (Wriggly), Rahab (Braggart), or simply Sir Sea or Dragon. The Babylonians told likewise of a fight between their god Marduk and the monster ; the Hittites told of a battle between the weather god and the dragon Illuyankas ; while a Canaanite poem from Ras Shamra (ancient Ugarit ) in northern Syria relates the discomfiture of Sir Sea by the deity Baal and the rout of an opponent named Leviathan. Originally, this myth probably referred to the annual subjugation of the floods. Ancient myths are utilized also in the form of passing allusions or poetic “conceits,” much as modern Westerners may speak of Cupid or the Muses. In the prophetic books, for example, there are references to a celestial upstart hurled to earth on account of his brashness and to the imprisonment of certain rebellious constellations.
The prophets used myths paradigmatically to illustrate the hand of God in contemporary events or to reinforce their prophecies. Thus, to Isaiah the primeval dragon was the symbol of the continuing force of chaos and evil that will again have to be vanquished before the kingdom of God can be established on earth. Similarly, for Ezekiel the celestial upstart serves as the prototype of the prince of Tyre, destined for an imminent fall; and Habakkuksees in the impending rout of certain invaders a repetition on the stage of history of YHWH’s mythical sortie against the monster of the sea. Legends in the Hebrew Scriptures often embellish the accounts of national heroes with standard motifs drawn from popular lore. Thus, the Genesis story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife recurs substantially (but with other characters) in an Egyptian papyrus of the 13th century BCE. The account of the infant Moses being placed in the bulrushes (in Exodus) has an earlier counterpart in a Babylonian tale about Sargon , king of Akkad (c. 2334–c. 2279 BCE), and is paralleled later in legends associated with the Persian Cyrus and with Tu-Küeh, the fabled founder of the Turkish nation. Jephthah’s rash vow (in Judges), whereby he is committed to sacrifice his daughter, recalls the Classical legend of Idomeneus of Crete, who was similarly compelled to slay his own son. The motif of the letter whereby David engineers the death in battle of Bathsheba ’s husband recurs in Homer’s story of Bellerophon.
The celebrated judgment of Solomon concerning the child claimed by two contending women is told, albeit with variations of detail, about Buddha, Confucius, and other sages; the story of how Jonah was swallowed by a “great fish” but was subsequently disgorged intact finds a parallel in the Indian tale of the hero Shaktideva, who endured the same experience during his quest for the Golden City. On the other hand, it should be observed that many of the parallels commonly cited from the folklore of indigenous peoples may be mere repetitions of biblical material picked up from Christian missionaries. Folktales in the Hebrew Bible sometimes serve to account for the names of places in Palestine or for the origins of traditional customs and institutions. Thus, the familiar story of the man who must struggle with the personified current of a river before he can cross it is localized (in Genesis) at the ford ofJabbok simply because that name suggests the Hebrew word abḳ (“struggle”), and Samson’s felling of 1,000 Philistines with the jawbone of an ass is placed at Ramath-leḥi because leḥi is Hebrew for “jawbone.” Similarly, a taboo against eating the thigh muscle of an animal is validated in Genesis by the legend that Jacob was struck in the hip when he fought with an otherworldly being at Penuel (“Face of God”). The custom of annually bewailing the vanished spirit of fertility is rationalized in Judges as a lamentation for the hapless daughter of Jephthah.
Leonard William King
“Under the Sumerians the wife could not obtain a divorce at all, and the penalty for denying her husband was death.”
Born on 8 December 1869, Leonard William King was an Assyriologist and an English archaeologist who studied at Rugby School and King’s College, Cambridge. He died on 20 August 1919 in London, United Kingdom.
King taught Babylonian archaeology and Assyrian at King’s College for several years where he published many works on these subjects. He also collected stone inscriptions in the Near East. His translations of ancient works like the Code of Hammurabi gained wide popularity. He was also the Assistant Keeper of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities at the British Museum.
Science lost a genius scholar in Assyriology as announced in The Times last Saturday about the premature death of Dr. Leonard William King. Other than building a European reputation in the literary field, he was also an energetic person whose love for open air and adventure led him to see, travel and dig up the palaces of ancient Assyrian Kings—a dual capacity in demand in modern archeologists.
He entered the Egyptian and Assyrian Department of the British Museum after receiving an education at Rugby and King’s College, Cambridge. He released his first work, “Babylonian Magic and Sorcery,” in 1896, which was a symbol of his mastery in the subject combined with the attention and precision he was recognized for. Afterwards, the “Letters of Hammurabi” was released, which is still a classic work on the subject.
Not long making an excavation trip to Mesopotamia, he reopened the diggings on the Konyunjik (Nineveh) site after a year where he worked for the British Museum for over one year, until he had to return home because of dysentery and give up his position to a colleague. He made an expedition into Persia to re-copy the great Inscription of Darius on the rock fact at Behistun during this excavation period (which was previously published by Sir Henry Rawlinson in the early days of his cuneiform decipherment) and camped for a fortnight beneath the inscription with his colleague to accomplish the job. With the assistance of ropes and tackling, the entire text was re-copied and eventually the British Museum published it with a full translation. It is needless to mention more than a few of King’s works, which the Semitic scholars know well. But his piece on the monumental history of Babylonia, which he was engaged with at the time of his death, ranks first among all his publications. Two volumes have already been published in this work.
He was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and became a Litt.D. (Cambridge) early in his career. King was also elected as Professor of Assyrian and Babylonian Archeology by King’s College, London. He was often engaged in the unselfish masters of craft, always remembered his juniors, was always eager to help them, and was especially careful to give credit to the ones who deserved it; and anyone who worked with him can testify to his noble character. He used his knowledge of the Near East at the disposal of the Government in London after the war started. He left behind a wife, one son and a daughter.
Notable Works
Schweich Lecture – Legends of Babylon and Egypt in Relation to Hebrew Tradition (1946)
Chronicles Concerning Early Babylonian Kings (Volume 1 and 2) 1907
Egypt and Western Asia in the light of Recent Discoveries 1907
Babylonian Religion and Mythology. – 1903
Encyclopaedia Biblica (contributor)1903
The seven tablets of creation: or The Babylonian and Assyrian legends concerning the creation of the world and of mankind. – 1902
The Code of Hammurabi (translation) 1899
Letters and Inscriptions of Hammurabi (3 volumes) 1898 to 1900
Leonard William King. First steps in Assyrian: a series of historical, mythological, religious, magical, epistolary and other texts for beginners, printed in cuneiform characters having interlinear transliteration and translation and a sketch of Assyrian grammar, sign-list and vocabulary. Kegan Paul Trench, Trbner. p. 399. Retrieved 2011-07-05. 1898
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The Hebrew religion, also called Judaism , is the oldest monotheistic religion in the world at roughly 4,000 years old. Adherents of Judaism believe in one God (Yahweh) who revealed himself through the prophets of old. The history of the Hebrew religion (Judaism) is vital to our comprehension of the Jewish beliefs, which has a strong custom of law, culture and heritage. There are currently about 14 million Jews worldwide. Most of them live in the United States and Israel. Hebrew’s believe there’s only one God (Yahweh) and he has formed a covenant with them. Their God reveals himself to his followers through the ancient prophets and rewards the good people and punishes the sinful. The majority of Jews do not believe the Messiah has come yet, but that he will come in the future. Jewish people worship in holy places called synagogues, and their spiritual leaders are called rabbis. The six-pointed Star of David is the symbol of Judaism. Jewish people worship in holy places called synagogues, and their spiritual leaders are called rabbis. The six-pointed Star of David is the symbol of Judaism. The name of the consecrated text of the Hebrew people is the Tanakh or the “Hebrew Bible.” It consists of the books in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, arranged differently. The first five books of the Tanakh are called the Torah, which describes the laws Hebrews must observe.
Religious Texts
The Torah explains the roots of the Hebrew faith. Yahweh (God) revealed himself to Abraham, who is known as the originator of the Hebrew religion. Hebrews believe that Yahweh (God) made a personal covenant with Abraham, and that his descendants were the chosen people who would build a great nation. Abraham’s son Isaac, and his grandson Jacob, also play significant roles in ancient Hebrew history. Jacob was given the name Israel, and his offspring and subsequent generations were known as Israelites. Over 1,000 years after Abraham, the prophet Moses brought the Israelites out of Egypt, after 400 years of slavery. Yahweh (God) revealed his laws, known as the Ten Commandments, to Moses at Mt. Around 1000 B.C., King David became ruler of the Hebrew nations, after he slew the giant Goliath, and his heir Solomon erected the first holy Temple in Yerushalem (Jerusalem). In 931 B.C. the Kingdom separated and the Hebrew nations divided into 2 groups: Judah in the South and Israel in the North. Around 587 B.C., the Babylonians demolished the 1st Temple and drove many Hebrews into exile. They constructed the 2nd Temple around 516 B.C., and the Romans demolished it in 70 A.D. The demolition of the 2nd Temple was noteworthy because Hebrew communities no longer had a primary gathering place.
Although the Tanakh, which contains the Torah, is Judaism’s most hallowed document, many supplemental documents were produced in future years. They provided understanding of how the Tanakh should be construed and wrote down the oral laws that weren’t recorded already. Around 200 A.D., academics assembled the Mishnah, a guidebook that defines and clarifies the Jewish code of law that was verbally transmitted before. The Talmud, a compilation of instructions and commentaries on Jewish law, was established later. The Talmud incorporates the Mishnah and the Gemara, a study of the Mishnah. It consists of the explanations of thousands of rabbis and focuses on the relevance of the 613 commandments of Jewish law. The original adaptation of the Talmud was finished during the 3rd century AD, and they finished the 2nd version in the 5th century AD. Judaism has additional written texts and commentaries, such as the “13 Articles of Faith” by the Jewish philosopher Maimonides.
Hebrew Sabbath and Biblical High Holy Days
Shabbat (Sabbath) is a day of rest and prayer for Hebrews. It starts at sunset on the 6th day of the week (Friday) and finishes at sunset on the 7th day (Saturday). The period from noon on the 6th day (Friday) until sunset on the 6th day is known as Shabbat Preparation time. Orthodox and Conservative Jews abstain from physical work, using any electronic device or any other activities not allowed on Shabbat. The majority of practicing Jews observe Shabbat by reading and debating the Torah, or going to a synagogue or socializing with other Jews. The Talmud, a compilation of instructions and commentaries on Jewish law, was established later. The Talmud incorporates the Mishnah and the Gemara, a study of the Mishnah. It consists of the explanations of thousands of rabbis and focuses on the relevance of the 613 commandments of Jewish law. The original adaptation of the Talmud was finished during the 3rd century AD, and they finished the 2nd version in the 5th century AD. Judaism has additional written texts and commentaries, such as the “13 Articles of Faith” by the Jewish philosopher Maimonides. Pesach (Passover): Pesach (Passover) is 7 days long and occurs in the spring, it is considered a moment of birth and newness, a time to rise up. It is a festival to commemorate the Hebrew people’s emancipation from slavery in Egypt. Specifically, Pesach (Passover) relates to the biblical narrative of when Yahweh (Hebrew God) “passed over” the homes of Hebrew families, sparing their firs-born, during a plague that killed all of the other first-born babies in Egypt. Shavout (Feast of Weeks, Pentecost): Shavout is a festival of revelation which occurs 7 weeks and 1 day (50 days) after Pesach, at the onset of summer. It is the moment where the Hebrew people met Yahweh (Hebrew God) face to face on Mt. Sinai to receive the 10 Commandments and the Torah. It is a spiritual process where the potential becomes a reality. Sukkot (Feast of Huts): Sukkot is a festival of ingathering, of reaping the benefits of all our works, it occurs after the harvest in the fall. Sukkot is a time of fulfillment, of rejoicing. It is the moment in history that has not happened yet, the moment of fulfillment when all work is done and Yahushua the Messiah comes. Sh’mini Atzeret (Eighth Day of Assembly and Completion): This is the least known of all the festivals and is tacked on at the end of Sukkot, it is a signal of the onset of the upcoming winter. It is the festival of inwardness, contraction and starting over again. Sh’mini Atzeret completes the cycle, it is the seed gone underground in seeming death, but only to be ready for the spring to give new life. It is the moment of Moses’ death: the death that moves at once towards new life, towards the people crossing the Jordan into Israel, the Promised Land. Rosh Hashanah (Top of the Year): Rosh Hashanah is the Hebrew festival to commemorate the birth of the universe and humanity. It is a feast of beginning. According to Hebrew tradition, it is the anniversary of the creation of Adam, the birthday of the human race. Today it is recognized as the Jewish New Year.
Persecution of the Jews
Events where Jewish people were persecuted or killed include:
1066 Granada Massacre – On December 30, 1066, a Muslim mob attacked the royal palace in Granada and slaughtered over 1,000 Jewish families.
The Spanish Expulsion – The rulers of Spain declared a royal edict that proclaimed that all Jews who did not convert to Christianity would be expelled from the country, 200,000 Jews were exiled.
The Spanish Expulsion – In 1492, the rulers of Spain declared a royal edict that proclaimed that all Jews who did not convert to Christianity would be expelled from the country, 200,000 Jews were exiled.
The Holocaust – The most heinous of modern-day inhumanities, the Nazis massacred several million Jews.
The Formation of Israel
Many Jews migrated to their motherland, Palestine, during and after the Holocaust and supported Zionism, a crusade to form a Jewish state that developed in 19th-century Europe. Israel became a sovereign nation in 1948, and David Ben-Gurion became its first prime minister. This was a victory for the Jewish people who had lobbied for a sovereign state in their motherland. Tensions between the Jews and Arabs residing in Palestine have intensified in the years since they made Israel a sovereign state and continues to happen today.
There are several sects in Judaism, which include:
Orthodox Judaism: Orthodox Jews are typically known for their strict observance of traditional Jewish law and rituals. For instance, most believe Shabbat shouldn’t involve working, driving or handling money. Orthodox Judaism is a diverse sect that includes several subgroups, including Hasidic Jews. This form started in the 18th century in Eastern Europe and holds different values than traditional or ultra-Orthodox Judaism. Hasidic Jews emphasize a mystical experience with God that involves direct communion through prayer and worship. Chabad is a well-known Orthodox Jewish, Hasidic movement. supernatural
Reform Judaism: Reform Judaism is considered a liberal category of the religion that values ethical traditions over strict observance of Jewish laws. Followers promote progressive ideas and adaptation. Most of the Jews living in the United States follow Reform Judaic traditions. Conservative Judaism: Many people consider this form of Judaism somewhere in between Orthodox and Reform Judaism. Typically, conservative Jews honor the traditions of Judaism while allowing for some modernization. Reconstructionist Judaism: Reconstructionism dates back to 1922 when Mordecai Kaplan founded the Society for the Advancement of Judaism. This sect believes that Judaism is a religious civilization that’s constantly evolving. Humanistic Judaism: Rabbi Sherwin Wine founded this denomination of Judaism in 1963. Humanistic Jews celebrate Jewish history and culture without an emphasis on God. While there are various denominations of Judaism, many Jews don’t identify with a particular classification and simply refer to themselves as Jewish.
There are different factions of Judaism including:
Orthodox Judaism: Orthodox Jews are recognized for their rigid adherence of traditional Jewish law and customs. For example, they do not believe that you should handle money, work or drive on Shabbat. Orthodox Judaism is a distinct faction that comprises various subgroups, such as the Hasidic Jews. Hasidic Judaism emerged in the 18th century in Eastern Europe and has beliefs that differ from ultra-Orthodox or traditional Judaism. Hasidic Jews stress a transcendent relationship with God that forms a spiritual union through worship and prayer. Chabad, established in 1775, is the largest and best-known Orthodox Jewish Hasidic group. Reform Judaism: Reform Judaism is a lenient faction of the religion that places significance on moral behaviors instead of rigid adherence to Jewish laws. Its devotees encourage open-mindedness and the ability to adapt. The bulk of the Jews in the United States practice Reform Judaism. Conservative Judaism: This sect of Judaism is a mixture of Orthodox and Reform Judaism. Generally, Conservative Jews observe the customs of Judaism while permitting some modernization. Reconstructionist Judaism: Reconstructionism Judaism was started in 1922 by Mordecai Kaplan when he founded the Society for the Advancement of Judaism. This branch considers Judaism to be a theological doctrine that evolves continuously. Humanistic Judaism: Humanistic Judaism was started in 1963 by Rabbi Sherwin Wine. Humanistic Jews celebrate the Jewish culture and way of life without a significance on God. Many Jews do not identify with a specific denomination and simply call themselves Jewish.
Israel Abrahams
Israel Abrahams was born in London on November 26, 1858; and died in Cambridge on October 6, 1925. He was one of the most prominent Hebrew academics of his time. He penned several books on Judaism and co-founded the newspaper Jewish Guardian.
Israel Abrahams was schooled at Jews’ College, where his father was superintendent, and at University College in London. In 1881, he got a Master of Arts (MA) degree from University College. Abrahams instructed non-religious subjects and classes on how to preach and write sermons at Jews’ College, and became the senior instructor of the school in 1900.
He was honorary secretary of the Jewish Historical Society of England and was an active member of the Committee for Training Jewish Teachers, the Committee of the Anglo-Jewish Association, and of several more associations of Jewish society.
In 1889, he became joint editor of the Jewish Quarterly Review. He was a major contributor of magazine articles like his weekly editorials for the Jewish Chronicle under the title of “Books and Bookmen”, and was popular for his columns about scholarly subjects. Abrahams teamed up with Claude Montefiore to write the book Aspects of Judaism (1895). His chief works were Jewish Life in the Middle Ages (1896) and Chapters on Jewish Literature (1898), and he also helped with the Encyclopaedia Biblica (1903).
After lecturing for numerous years at Jews’ College, Abrahams succeeded Solomon Schechter in 1902, as reader in Talmudic and Rabbinic literature at the University of Cambridge, and was granted an honorary Master of Arts (MA) degree from the University.
In 1914 he produced a commentary on Simeon Singer’s A Companion to the Authorised Prayer Book. In 1922 he delivered the Schweich Lecture of the British Academy. He distributed the lectures under the title Campaigns in Palestine from Alexander the Great.
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