Friday, September 17, 2010

The Day of Atonement - Yom Kippur

Leviticus 23: 26-32
"And The LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto The LORD. And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before The LORD your G-d. For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people. Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath."

"...a day set aside to "afflict the soul", to atone for the sins of the past year." - http://www.jewfaq.org/

Yom kippur is the most sacred day of Israel's calendar.  Back in the day, the high priest would ritually bathe 5 different times.  This was the only day of the year he would enter the holy of holies.  He would wear white linen garments, not the usual priestly "golden vestments".  The daily sacrifice would be made along with the burning of incense and candles.  The special Yom Kippur rituals would then begin and the high priest would intercede on behalf of the entire nation.  He would confess his sins and the sins of all the priests, sacrifice a young bull, then enter the holy of holies to place a censer of incense on "the foundation stone" and pray.  He would come out again to sacrifice a goat "marked for Yahweh", then enter the holy of holies again to ceremonially cleanse the sanctuary, veil, and the holy place from the defilement of priests and worshipers.  The high priest would come out again and lay his hands on the scapegoat along with the sins of the nation.  The goat would be led far ouside of camp and over a cliff.  After this was done the high priest would declare "as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." (Psalm 103:12)
-portions taken from Israel's Holy Days In Type and Prophecy by Daniel Fuchs

"Because on Yom Kippur we are guaranteed to be forgiven if we repent.  And that is the primary Mitzvah of that day: to repent.  And if we repent, we are forgiven. That's all there is to it."
-www.beingjewish.com

"When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here.  He went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation.  He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.  The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean.  How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve The Living G-d!"
---Hebrews 9:11-14

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

New Year's Big Fun!

The Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) is here!
Happy Hebrew New Year 5771!

Leviticus 23:23-24
The LORD said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites: 'On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts. Do no regular work, but present an offering made to The LORD by fire.




G-d outlines His appointed times in Leviticus chapter 23. Most scholars accept 7 total appointed times, also referred to as the Feasts of The Lord (although there is some disagreement as to which ones ‘count’ and when they are celebrated).

The weekly Sabbath (1 day per week=52) is to be kept holy (Lev. 23:3), a terrific idea. The spring appointed times are Passover, the feast of Unleavened Bread, the feast of First fruits (7 days in close proximity), as well as Pentecost (1 day) celebrated fifty days after Firstfruits. The fall appointed times are the Feast of Trumpets (1 day), the Day of Atonement (1 day), the feast of Tabernacles (7 days), and the Eighth Day of Assembly (1 day). That adds up to a total of 70 appointed days during a Hebrew year!

The month of Elul (Aug/Sep of our calendar) is the final month in the Jewish year a time for prayer, self introspection, and repentance. This intense spiritual preparation is for Rosh Hashanah, which occurs during the first and second days of the month of Tishrei (Sep/Nov of our calendar). The celebration of this holiday is marked with solemnity. It is thought to be the birthday of the world, a day of Judgment, a day of Remembrance, a day of shofar blowing, and the start of a new year! It is also thought to be the time of year that Abraham offered Isaac to G-d and a ram was provided instead. This story foreshadows the coming Messiah who “takes away the sin of the world”. For these reasons, a shofar (ram’s horn) is blown on the Feast of Trumpets.

Torah readings: Day 1 Gen. 21:1-34 and I Sam. 1:1 to 2:10
Day 2 Gen. 22:1-24 and Jer. 31:1-19 and Numbers 29:1-6

Also helpful to read Romans 4:20-21, Hebrews 11:19, John 1:29, and Isaiah 53:7.


Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are considered the most important of the holy days. The New Year is celebrated with family gatherings, special meals, sweet tasting foods, synagogue services, and the blowing of shofars. As congregants leave the synagogue after services they will say to each other, “May you be inscribed in the Book of Life!”. Doesn’t that sound grand?


“Praise be to the G-d and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will— to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of G-d's grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.”

---Ephesians 1:3-10

"Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable and will be changed."

---1 Corinthians 15:51


The Hebrew calendar is based both on the lunar year and solar year. A standard day is from sunset to sunset “…the evening, the morning…” as described in the Genesis Creation account. Our standard Gregorian calendar (which comes from the Julian calendar) is based on a solar year. For some fascinating insight on the Hebrew calendar see http://www.jewfaq.org

Monday, September 6, 2010

Big Fun this weekend ... saving money!

Regularly priced $6 per box...



Nice tea, but not in this economy!



Unless...you have an Amazing Savings in your town.  For a limited time, $1.29 for two boxes!



That is amazing!