Thursday, September 24, 2009

YOM KIPPUR


Tishrei 5770


September 27-28, 2009

Yom Kippur (Yom ha Kippurim) commemorates the day that God forgave the Jewish people for the sin of the golden calf. Forty days after hearing God say at Mount Sinai: "You shall not have the gods of others in My presence; you shall not make for yourself a graven image," the Jews committed the cardinal sin of idolatry. Moses spent nearly three months on top of the mountain pleading with God for forgiveness, and on the tenth of Tishrei it was finally granted: "I have pardoned, as you have requested."

From that moment on, this date, henceforth known as the Day of Atonement, is annually observed as a commemoration of our special relationship with God, a relationship that is strong enough to survive any rocky bumps it might encounter. This is a day when we connect with the very essence of our being, which remains faithful to God regardless of our outward behavior. And while it is the most solemn day of the year, we are also joyful, confident that God will forgive our sins and seal our verdict for a year of life, health, and happiness.


For believers in Yeshua, both Jewish and non-Jewish, the observance of Yom Kippur can hold special significance. The repentance started at Rosh HaShanah comes to a culmination with atonement ten days later. As with the traditional Jewish community, those ten days (Yomim Nora'im) take on spiritual significance as we meditate on the meaning of the high holy days.



In the Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Talmud), there is a beautiful passage that explains how Jewish traditions of Yom Kippur reflect the assurance of forgiveness rather than despondency or fear of unforgiveness:

"It is customary that if a man knows he has to appear in court for trial, he wears black clothes and lets his beard grow, as he does not know what the verdict will be. However, the children of Israel do not act thus. On their day of judgment they don white clothes, trim their beards, eat, drink, and rejoice, for they have confidence that the Holy One, blessed be he, will perform miracles for them."


L’Shana Tovah Tiktevu
May you be inscribed for a sweet and fruitful New Year in Messiah Yeshua!


take in part from: chabad.org godwithus.org; wordpress.com

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Rosh HaShanah

Rosh Hashanah (Head of the New Year),
aka Yom Teruah (the Day of the Shofar Blast),
begins a 10-day period known as Yamim Noraim (the Days of Awe)
that ends with Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement).

Yom Teruah wakes you up, announcing that Yom Kippur is coming, and then the ten days in between become a time of self-reflection, repentance, and getting right with your fellow man.

L'Shana Tova Tikatevu: "May you be inscribed in the Book of Life for a good year" is a traditional Jewish greeting for the holiday, and has special significance when you read it in the context of Revelations 20, just one of several scriptures where the Book of Life is mentioned in the Word: "Next I saw a great white throne and the One sitting on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, both great and small, standing in front of the throne. Books were opened; and another book was opened, the Book of Life; and the dead were judged from what was written in those books, according to what they had done." Or consider from Revelations 21, who can enter the heavenly city? "...The only ones who may enter are those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life."


THE BLOWING OF THE SHOFAR
On Yom Teruah, the sounding of the shofar is a high point of the Rosh Hashanah services. It is very difficult to blow a shofar. The Tokeiah (shofar blower) may spend many hours practicing for his task in the preceding month of Elul.

The sound from the shofar is a series of defined blasts, sounding an alarm and creating a stirring repentant sound of lament. The sound is meant to be a rousing call to repentance on the part of each individual. It is meant to awaken everyone to remind them of the Creator and to inspire them to forsake their evils ways and return to God.

The detailed sounds have been established by centuries of tradition. There are four different sounds associated with the Yom Teruah service:

TEKIAH - A single blast beginning in musical mid-range and finishing as a high note. A pure unbroken sound calling each person to search their heart. The tekiah called the people to attention and gather them unto Moses. It is the calling note to get ahold of your attention. It is seen as the general summons to listen to God, to receive from Him the orders for the day. The prophet Amos asked, "Can a shofar be sounded in the city without the people trembling?" (Amos 3:6)

SHEVARIM - One tekiah broken into three shorter staccato blasts, producing a sighing, groaning sound. The noun shevarim is derived from the root shavar, meaning "to break". It occurs in the Bible, mainly in the singular, in the sense of "breaking, fracture, crushing, crashing." Jeremiah uses this Hebrew word in 50:22: "A sound of battle is in the land, and a great crashing." Do you hear the battle for our souls? ADONAI is near to those with broken hearts; he saves those whose spirit is crushed. (Psalm 34:18)

TERUAH - There are two main variants of the Teruah sound today. One tradition uses nine separate short notes in rapid sequence and the other is a single long call with nine vibrating tones, each producing a wailing lament much like you can hear today from women mourners in the Middle East. Teruah, partly from the Hebrew root ru'a, meaning "to shake, quake, vibrate", has taken on a double meaning: not only the "wind vibration" of the shofar blast defining the holiday "Yom Teruah", but also a human "quaking" before the bar of divine justice. A combination of the Shevarim groans and Teruah wails express the sorrow that comes upon a person when they realize the depths of their sin and their need to repent.

TEKIAH GEDOLAH - A very long Tekiah. This dramatic call requires a lot of practice on the part of the Tokeiah. This prolonged, unbroken sound is the final appeal for sincere repentance and atonement, for the Day of Judgment is at hand. What a Tekiah Gedolah will sound from that angel in Revelations 11 who's proclaiming: "The kingdoms of the world have become the Kingdom of our Lord and His Messiah, and He will rule forever and ever!" Amen.

AVINU MALKEINU
(During the high holidays, Avinu Malkeinu is recited several times. The number of petitions in the full version can range up to 44 requests, but varies with custom. This unique and moving prayer can be found in most Jewish Siddurs. Our version below has expanded upon the some of the original by including the revelation of Yeshua haMashiach and a desire to see the salvation of Israel.)

Our Father, Our King, we have sinned before You. Forgive us our sins through the atonement of Your Son.
Our Father, Our King, we have no God but you. There is no God like you in the Heavens. There is no one else we can look to for help.
Our Father, Our King, deal with us kindly for the sake of Your Name. Look mercifully upon Israel. Deliver her from distress and bring Israel to faith through Your Son.
Our Father, Our King, sound the Shofar for the deliverance and gather Israel from the four corners of the earth.
Our Father, Our King, bring peace between Jew and Gentile and among all peoples through the Prince of Peace, Yeshua haMashiach.
Our Father, Our King, let your Spirit be poured out in the last days that a great harvest of souls might be gathered and that all Israel shall be saved.
Our Father, Our King, may this revival lead to the sounding of the Shofar when we shall be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.
Our Father, Our King, let your judgment fall on the unrepentant and deliver us from their schemes in Yeshua’s name.
Our Father, Our King, fully defeat the plans of the adversary for our destruction and arise and establish your plan for our salvation.




"For the law of the Spirit of life in Messiah Yeshua has made me free from the law of sin and death that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." (Romans 8)

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

ELUL

ELUL:
PREPARING TO MEET THE KING
by Rabbi Barney Kasdan

Ah, summer! It is certainly a favored time of year for many people. The warm weather, outdoor activities, baseball and barbecues (among other things) all add to the enjoyment and break from the routine of the rest of the year. In the Jewish calendar cycle we might be tempted to think that it is also a respite from busy activities and holy days that pack into the rest of the year. But think again.



Month number: 12
Number of Days: 29
Season: Summer
Gregorian equivalent: August-September


Maybe in the back of our minds we anticipate the coming High Holy Days in September and October. Yet the spiritual preparation for these important festivals actually begins by mid-August. Since Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur are so vital to our spiritual journey, Jewish tradition also mandates that the month before should become a time of spiritual and emotional preparation. It starts with the sixth month on the Hebrew calendar called Elul (this year starting on the evening of August 20). The 29 days of this month is added to the 10 days of the next month (Tishrei) to give us a 40-day period of spiritual contemplation.

Those who attend a weekday synagogue service will notice some distinct additions to help us focus on our personal preparation for the Holy Days. The shofar (ram's horn) is sounded every day during Elul as a wake-up call to consider the state of our soul and our relationship to our Heavenly Father. Likewise it is traditional to recite Psalm 27 following services ("The Lord is my light and my salvation.").
The last week of Elul is emphasized with the reading before the morning services of the Selichot prayers for forgiveness and mercy. The common themes throughout this 40-day period are repentance and preparation to meet our King. While there is a serious and even an awesome side to this preparation reminders of God's love are also evident. We are told that the four Hebrew letters of the word Elul comprise an acronym for the beautiful verse in Song of Songs: “ani l’dodi v'dodi li" (I am my Beloved's and my Beloved is mine), a clear reassurance of God's love for His people. Those of us in Messianic Judaism continue in various levels of observance of our heritage and certainly appreciate the spiritual lessons found in the month of Elul.


In fact, Messianic Jews and non-Jews have a great additional motivation to value this season even beyond what the rabbis emphasize. It seems that the month of Elul and the 40-day period was observed by our Messiah Yeshua. "Then Yeshua was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He became hungry" [Matthew 4:1-2].


Is there evidence that suggests that this could be the intense time of Elul? I believe the chronological information in the gospels lead us to this conclusion. If, as many conclude, Yeshua was born in the fall during Sukkot or the High Holy Days, then the start of his public ministry would also commence during the High Holy Days as indicated by the statement of Luke 3:23 (that Yeshua was about thirty years old at that time).


This would be the perfect time of preparation and testing for Yeshua, as he was about to embark on his earthly ministry to Israel. In his case, not only did it include the closing fast of Yom Kippur, but an intense fast for the entire 40-day period. It seems the content of Yeshua's early message is also thematically consistent with Elul and the High Holy Days: "Repent for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand" [Matthew 4:17]. Indeed, if the Kingdom is near, all Israel should prepare to meet King Messiah!


As we transition from summer to the Holy Days, may we, the modern day followers of Yeshua, take a fresh look into our hearts and spirits. May these 40 days leading up to Yom Kippur be a time of sober introspection as we evaluate our relationship with God and our fellow man. May this season of Elul prepare us to welcome King Messiah into our midst in a fresh, dynamic way!


ELUL dates of interest*:


1 Elul - Moses ascends Sinai for 3rd 40 days (1313 BCE)
10 Elul - Noah Dispatches Raven (2105 BCE)
17 Elul - Noah Dispatches Dove (2105 BCE)
23 Elul - Dove brings Olive Leaf to Noah (2105 BCE)
25 Elul - The 1st day of Creation (3761 BCE)
25 Elul - Jerusalem Walls Rebuilt (335 BCE)


*Taken from wikipedia