Ugh! Calendar issues. In our first HaYesod group, when the mention of the incredible discord that calendar issues has wrought in Messianic communities, one student laughed pretty hard and said, “That’s so stupid! What’s with that? Seriously? That’s so stupid!” We smiled at him and said, “One of these days you’ll hear about it and it’ll make your head spin. Yes, [the presenter] is being serious. It’s a highly toxic subject that has not only caused intense division but has severely damaged Yeshua’s reputation, yet again.” *sigh*
I had a conversation about calendar issues with a dear friend recently and that is what has sparked this entry. She asked me to write out my thoughts. And rather than write a private e-mail, I’m making it public because I want to hear what others think. I enjoy conversation and healthy debate, not arguments. I don’t always see the other side of the coin, goodness sometimes I don’t even realize that a particular coin even has another side. That’s where dialogue is so important to me.
So here are my Calendar Thoughts.
The Cycle of the Year
HaShem has ensured that his calendar of events was recorded in the Torah and since He is King of the Universe, that’s our calendar too if we are part of His Kingdom. In the old days, closer to the days of Moshe and Aharon, some of the confusing issues (like “what Sabbath do we start counting with?”) were probably perfectly clear. Just like a lot of Leviticus – we knew the rest of the story so we could fill in the blanks really easily. But as time marched on and we danced between syncretism & apathy and dedication & devotion we have forgotten some important things. We’ve done our best to put the pieces back together and that has often left us with more than one or two (or three or more) opinions. One group says “It’s this Sabbath” and another says, “No, it’s that Sabbath” and then there are other, sometimes very strange, ideas to add to the pot of suggestions. Who is to know who is right? We must simply fall back on the agreement that when Messiah comes, He’ll set all these things straight. May He come quickly!!
In the old days when we lived in the land, we could wait and watch for that first sliver of the moon. We knew that the Sabbath was every 7 days and that was constant (I know of nothing at all that indicates the Sabbath was something other than every 7 days). We would wait together for the hour and the day that no man knew to see when the new month would begin. What is a month anyway, but 28 – 30 days after the last one started? Every 28 – 30 days we’d start a new month and have a celebration. Sometimes it would be a special festival month or a particular month would contain special fast days. Our amazingly incredible King had set aside for us special days of fellowship and celebration. How good is that?
The trouble starts when we were exiled from our land. We didn’t have the internet back then, no telephones and *gasp* not even reliable ol’ snail mail! How were we supposed to know when a new month began? It would take runners forever to get from the first place to the last place and by then who knows what time it’d be. The wise sages got together and with amazing G-d given mathematical talent they put together a fixed calendar for us. It wasn’t a haphazard venture, either. Some of us were taken very far away, while others weren’t too far away, but none of us were allowed back home. The Sanhedrin always ratified the new months and the calendar that they put together was such a blessing for us! Those who lived close to home verified for us that the fixed calendar was right. What a relief! And these amazing mathematical men didn’t even have a computer, or a calculator to do the math! Can you believe it? I have a hard time doing simple equations without a calculator these days and they did mind-bending mathematical calculations to determine the calendar for millennia to come with brain power!
New Moon over Modern Jerusalem
Fast forward many centuries. We do not have a Sanhedrin anymore. We have great sages and highly respected teachers, but we have no Sanhedrin. We have no Temple and after nearly 2,000 years of exile from home, the most constant thing we still have left other than the Torah is the calendar that the last governing body of elders left us. Our calendar is a big part of what holds us together in unity. We have festival celebrations together, we have Sabbath together, we can tell time together even if my parents are in Europe and I’ve left for America while my brother is in South America and my sister went to Australia. We all know when we’re celebrating special times and we celebrate together in spirit, all around the world. See how important our calendar has been? The calendar and the Torah have held us together in unity for millennia.
And now, today, many of us have been able to finally go home. Once we started going home, little by little, we began to notice that our calendar must have been off by a few milliseconds in the beginning. I know that if I’d have been helping with those calculations (and the number 0 wasn’t even recognized back then…) that I’d have really messed things up! After almost 2,000 years there is a discrepancy between when we expect the new moon and when it really comes. It’s like everyone’s watch is two minutes fast. But what do we do? Do we change this treasured constant calendar that has held us together through so many dark nights and trying days? And who has the authority to do that, anyway? We still have no Sanhedrin and Messiah hasn’t come to set everything straight yet. So what do we do? We continue doing what we’ve always done until someone with authority to change things comes along and does so – either the next Sanhedrin or Messiah.
Graft on Olive Tree
Now I know that many of us who are grafted-in non-Jewish believers in Yeshua are sometimes encouraged to shake a fist and say “Throw out that old calendar and stick with the visual sighting in Jerusalem! Good riddance to that pesky error ridden calendar!” But hold your horses, my little friend. When did the grafted in branches get the go-ahead to be arrogant toward the natural branches? Wasn’t it Shaul, the one sent to the nations, who wrote in Romans 11 that we shouldn’t be arrogant or think that we’ve in any way eclipsed the Jewish people? When and by whom were we granted the authority to make such legal decisions as these anyway? We can be leaders of our communities if our communities feel we are good and wise representatives, but I doubt many of us would sit with the Council of Elders. We’re the new kids in the family and somehow we think we’ve got the knowledge and the right to mess with things that weren’t even given to us in the first place. Maybe it’s time we stop for a second and think this one through. It is a good time to re-consider what submitting to authority means. Yeshua wasn’t against authority, He worked well within and under authority. A student isn’t above his teacher, remember.
We know that HaShem set up a particular social structure that was complete with elders, leaders of small groups and leaders of larger groups. From each group of leaders rose one who was recognized as the leader of that group of leaders. Those men would meet together with other leaders as leaders of leaders and a new leader would emerge and so on, until we have the 70 elders (with an extra man, a tie breaker of sorts) called The Council of Elders, known later as The Great Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin is to Judaism as the Supreme Court is to America (let’s not get into issues of corruption – I’m talking about authority and honor). Without a Sanhedrin there are a lot of things in the Torah that cannot be set in motion. This is a very good thing! Can you imagine if every man did as he saw fit in his own eyes, the kind of vigilantes we’d have on our hands? What kind of lawless teachings and halachah would we have to contend with? YIKES! We already have a good record of what happens to us when we do what we think is right in our own view, and when we move boundary stones that our fathers (and The Father) have set in place. It’s a history full of ugly stories and embarrassing tales – all completely true! *sigh* I really don’t want my name recorded in any of those kind of events, do you?
The Great Sanhedrin
The last Great Sanhedrin at the Temple in Jerusalem was nearly 2,000 years ago and the last recognized Great Sanhedrin was in 358 CE. It’s been a while since we’ve had the luxury of The Great Sanhedrin. But what about the followers of Yeshua from Nazareth? There is no indication that those who came to trust in Messiah Yeshua threw off the authority of the Sanhedrin. Sure Stephen and Peter had hard words for them but haven’t many of the prophets and holy men in the past? Aren’t there lawyers today with hard words for our Supreme Court at times? That doesn’t mean that the lawyers are going to set up their own new legal structure though, what a crazy idea! The apostolic era believers had a council of elders in Jerusalem that governed the growing community of believers around the world. Each community had leaders that were subject to the Council of Elders in Jerusalem, but they did not replace the Sanhedrin. Yeshua instructed us to listen to the scribes (lawyers) and Pharisees (know who they are today?) because they sit in the seat of Moses – we are to honor and respect G-d given authority. Nowhere were we told to create a new Council of Elders or anything of the sort. We were never instructed to throw off the authority of the elders, we were instructed to honor them and abide by them.
In the 4th Century after the days of Yeshua the Roman Empire (Esau) saw to it that the Sanhedrin was completely dissolved. Knowing that the Roman Empire was going to succeed at crushing the Sanhedrin, their final meeting was to establish and ratify a Jewish Calendar based on mathematical calculations. Without our calendar and the Sanhedrin the people could not survive – we would be lost forever in a short period of time. If we couldn’t have one we certainly needed the other!!
235 month calendar
This very day we have young whipper-snappers coming in to tell us that our beloved calendar is worthless and should be thrown out. On whose authority? Yes we know it’s off by a day or two but until there is a new Sanhedrin, who has authority to change these things? And what are we going to do – all sit by our computers and wait to see if someone spotted the New Moon in Jerusalem? What if the power goes out in a storm and I can’t find out? What if I don’t have access to an internet connection? What if I *gasp* forget?!? Technology is great, but it’s not perfect and it can fail just like we do. The ONLY way we who are all the way out here can know for sure if the new moon has been sighted in Jerusalem is bound up with all this technology. That might be okay, but it makes me nervous. The kicker is that some anti-calendar teachers like to teach that “someday” we won’t have that technology available to us because something terrible is going to happen to us in the very near future. And maybe they’re right, time will tell. So what will we have then? No authority, no calendar, no unity and nothing to keep us together. We’ll have cut ourselves off.
Cutting ourselves off from the tree? Not such a good idea...
So what does our family think about this whole “the calendar is wrong” debate? Until a Sanhedrin is installed in Jerusalem and corrects the calendar OR until Messiah returns and sets ALL things right, the calendar that Hillell II recommended and the Sanhedrin established is the calendar we have and we will continue to treasure it. May Messiah return quickly, and in our days! Maranatha!!
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I particularly enjoyed “hold your horses little friend” and “young whipper snappers”….
Seriously though, this is why I think it is so important to carefully consider the established customs of Israel before we start mucking it up. Many of us (including myself) have disgraced and ruined the whole point of Messiah by acting like we understand and know better than the Rabbis. Shame on us and may we all truly graft ourselves into Israel or just stay out.
Hello dear ~
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I have seen and experienced much of the same drama & trauma that you have. It’s been a terrible witness to the world, to Judaism, and to Christianity. *sigh* We all have a lot of growing yet to do and hopefully we’ll be able to move toward unity with one another out of each of our growing-pains steps. It will require a certain acceptance of authority, from everyone involved. I pray for it daily.
I liked this post, Lisa. You have a talent in explaining things in easy-to-understand terms.
And you’re down to earth.
I use the agricultural/astronomical calendar. I figure, now that we have the benefits of modern science and technology, and now that we’re back in the land, we might as well start straightening things out.
That said, I’d rather keep quiet about the calendar to preserve unity, or at least, not fight over it. We really don’t need yet another fight, and, as Toby Janicki said, “the outside world is not impressed when we fight about the calendar”. I wholeheartedly agree.
Why thank you, Judah.
For several years we kept the agricultural/astronomical calendar too. It’s part of our journey and we learned a lot in that. We still look for the moon often (I’d like to say each month, but I’m not going to lie) and we still wait to hear about the barley in the spring. It’s been important to our walk to know both. At some point we had to settle the issue of authority as it relates to our walk.
I think Toby made a very wise statement there. I’m not looking for an argument at all, but I am interested in discussion that enables me to learn and grow. I’ve been very intrigued at the responses I’ve gotten on this, many private messages and FB messages – nothing negative in the least. In fact, I’m surprised to hear that some have never even heard of this issue! And *that* brings joy to my heart!! Maybe it is true that we, as a group, are continuing to mature and draw closer to that longed for echad. May it be so…
Hi Lisa,
It is true that the majority of religious Jews are governed by the teaching of the Rabbis. We call this Rabbinical Judaism around here. Yet Rabbinical Judaism is not the only form of Judaism in the world. The Karaite Jews do not hold to the teachings of the Rabbis. This naturally earns them great disdain and disapproval from some Rabbis.
The Karaites have the crazy idea that they should live by the Scriptures, the word of HaShem rather than the word of man.
As a Christian, I’ve always had the idea that I should live by the Scriptures rather than the teachings of men as well, so I kind of admire that in the Karaites.
I feel the Karaites explain the calendar issues with great insight. And they too are Jews who have carried the oracles of HaShem through the ages.
I, like you, have been concerned at different times that we would not be able to have the feast dates if a disaster occurred and the internet became unavailable. However, with the availability of calendars published with the feast dates listed according to the Abib barley, we can just look on our calendar in the same way that we would look at a standard calendar.
Suppose one year that we are unable to have access to the barley report? Let’s say, for example, in 14 years. I’m not sure that possibility is a good reason not to be as accurate as we are able to in our feast keeping now.
Anyway, those are some of my thoughts on the calendar issue. You explained your thoughts on the matter much more gracefully than I’ve explained mine. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and asking ours. Blessings to you.
Hello Beth ~
I don’t want my long-winded reply to be overwhelming and I do really appreciate your participating in the conversation.
I’m familiar with the Karaite movement. They have some interesting perspectives on things, and some I really appreciate. But I have some strong hesitations about them.
Do you recall in my original post the part about Yeshua instructing his followers to listen to the scribes and Pharisees? It’s in Matthew 23 which is part of the telling of the testing that the elders and teachers of his day put him to. It was pointed out to me once that Yeshua said to pay attention to the scribes and Pharisees but he left out the Sadducees, I would expect that was deliberate (and not that Matthew simply forgot). Yeshua’s teachings lined up quite well with the Pharisee camp for the most part, which is why he was harder on them than anyone else. But my point is that it seems that the Sadducees were not a group that he lined up with nor a group/teaching that he wanted his followers to go after. He didn’t speak much about them and he didn’t point his followers toward them anywhere that I can remember (just like he didn’t point anyone toward the Essenes or any of the other sects).
Remember when Yeshua was teaching with the parable about the tenant farmer in Matthew 21:33 and on? He’s speaking about the taking away of the vineyard from the current tenants and giving it to new tenants. Christianity has often said that this is a parable about taking the kingdom of G-d away from the Jews and giving it to the Christian Church, but that’s not what it really seems to be saying at all and that’s not what his hearers would have heard either. I forget if it was Brad Young or someone else, but their teaching was that this parable was about The Seat of Moses (the authority in Judaism) being taken from the Sadducees, made up primarily of Levites, and given to the Pharisees, made up primarily of devoted individuals from various tribes or ‘common people’. It was the Sadducees who were the ones that controlled the Temple since they were primarily Levites and sons of Zaddok. 40 years after the death and resurrection of Yeshua the Holy Temple was destroyed and with that, the Sadducee sect dissolved. What Yeshua said in the parable indeed came to pass – the authority in Judaism was transferred from the Sadducees to the Pharisees. But there’s more. With the dissolution of the Sadducee sect over time, it left the door wide open for the Pharisees but what sect of Second Temple Judaism evolved into todays Rabbinic Judaism? Pharisaic Judaism. In the text of my original message I asked, “…Pharisees (know who they are today?).” That’s who the Pharisees are today – Rabbinic Judaism. But there’s still more – in the Apostolic community, Shaul who was “a Pharisee of Pharisees and trained under Gamliel” was the one sent to the nations. We were schooled by a Pharisee who claimed to remain a Pharisee to the very end of his life and taught his students to do as he did, do as he taught, and to do what they saw him doing.
I bring this up because it’s important and might make sense in a bit. What was it about the Sadducees that met with Yeshua’s seeming disapproval? We can speculate on some matters: they didn’t believe in the resurrection, angels/demons, or some other things that traditional Judaism holds to as well as Christianity. One of their trademarks was that they had a particular disregard for the Oral Torah, the “traditions of men”. Yeshua had his own issues with the traditions of men but it seems that he did so only when they contradicted the written Torah. If a tradition violated the command, that was a problem and he spoke out against it. Otherwise Yeshua is shown to pray before meals, which is a tradition, rather than only after which is the command. There are other examples of Yeshua being respectful and agreeable with the traditions as well as with the Pharisees, but we sometimes only remember the criticism of the traditions and the Pharisees. Like any other scholarly and deeply committed group of people, he was harder on the ones he agreed with the most. It’s a form of ‘insider constructive criticism’ but we sometimes misunderstand it as harsh complete condemnation.
So if we know who the Pharisees evolved into, and that the Sadducees basically dissolved then there are no Sadducees today, right? Wrong, sort of. The Sadducees didn’t ascribe to anything outside of the written Word, specifically “the teachings of the fathers”. They also did not accept the authority of the teachers. This is what the ancient Sadducees and the modern Karaites have in common, aside from being the general opposition to the Pharisees and Rabbinic Judaism in most cases. The Pharisees tended to be more lenient while the Sadducees tended to be more rigorous. Think Hillel vs Shammai. So are the former Sadducees todays Karaites? I don’t know about that, but there are significant similarities. I’m not so sure it needs to be about who became whom but more about the message behind the sects.
The kicker for us was that Yeshua did not spurn the traditions of the fathers as a whole, it seems he only did so when they contradicted the written Torah. He pointed positively toward the Pharisees and even taught that they sit in The Seat of Moses along with the scribes, no Sadducees mentioned there at all. So since Yeshua taught this then we opted to take a serious look at that. And if todays Karaites are more in line with yesterday’s Sadducees and todays Rabbinic Judaism is more in line with yesterday’s Pharisees then that tells our family which camp we need to spend more time with.
We agree that the Word says the new month starts with the sighting of the new moon in Israel and that the year begins in the month of Aviv (the barley being aviv makes the most sense). And we expect that when Messiah returns he’ll straighten everything out, or if a Sanhedrin is recognized and convenes that they will likely address the calendar issue at some point. When that does take place we’ll need to know what we’re doing, that’s for sure! But until someone with authority comes, we are left with the last decision that the last authoritative body made. And our family has opted to stick with that, even though we see some of the glaring differences. It’s about respecting authority more than it’s about being two minutes later than everyone else.
Here’s a link with more info on the Sadducees:
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=40&letter=S
Lisa,
I’m so glad you articulated your thoughts about this here! This is an issue that I’ve gone over and over as well… trying to decide which calender is the *right* one. I finally came to the conclusion, as you have, that it was impossible to know for sure, at least at this time. I agree that we are wiser to keep unity among believers than to go off and try to reinvent the wheel, for all of the reasons you so well stated! It’s a difficult issue, but not one worth creating division or strife over until the time comes that we’re given more information about it. We are not to be “blind followers” of tradition, but we also don’t want to get ourselves into a situation of the blind leading the blind. Not wise and not something I want to be accused of doing! Sometimes, there just are no easy answers, but at least we can set our hopes on the return of our Messiah who will set us all straight! ;-D
I agree that there is no need to run off and re-invent the wheel, or to invent our own unique wheel. Sometimes we get such an independent spirit that it ends up causing more damage than we realize. I truly do believe that the root of this issue is the issue of authority and how we relate to it. We’re all learning, growing and working out our salvation. I believe that a close second to authority is maturity.
It’s a significant issue, this calendar debate, but I’m not sure it’s worth all the division and animosity that comes up over it. We still have good friends that keep a different calendar and know what? We’re still friends! We can still respect one another’s special days and the reasons each of us keep them. Their walk is with HaShem and Yeshua primarily, with us secondarily. We can choose to agree to disagree and still mutually respect and love one another. I know that many others do the same.
When Messiah comes, we’ll all have some learning, growing and changing to do. In time we’ll all be perfected. Till then, we just keep plugging along and doing our best.
Lisa, I need to leave in a few minutes to get Beverly to piano… but I went to see the Dead Sea Scrolls this weekend and thought of this post. There wasn’t agreement at the time of Christ over which calendar to use either. But, it didn’t matter. Whoever controlled the Temple, controlled the calendar. If an individual who was faithfully searching Scripture and maybe even studying the thoughts of a respected Rabbi decided in good faith that the date was wrong (and some did), they still wouldn’t be allowed to offer their sacrifice at the Temple on the day of their choosing. There was unity. There weren’t some people working on days others considered sacred Days of Rest. I found it fascinating in light of your words.
That being said, I will drop out of this thread. My church and family celebrate Holy Days on the Western calendar. Calendar fights give me headaches.
Acceptance ~
You are very right!! There was unity, even when there was disagreement! I hope this thread hasn’t included fighting nor that it will encourage fighting. And I understand your bowing out.
Even on your Western Calendar, you’ve kept the Biblical Festivals at the same times as traditional Judaism (because those are the dates on our western calendars). You have been celebrating in unity when you have celebrated them.
Lisa,
Thank you so much for your well thought out comments and ideas. i have been struggling with the calendar “issue” for a while and have recently decided to stick with whom I am receiving my newbie Hebrew Roots education, and it is on the calendar that you support following as well. I agree that this will be worked out and confirmed in God’s timing. Your comments just help solidify my decision and heart-felt commitments.
Thank you!
Hello Dorita ~
You are very welcome.
The calendar issue can be such a divisive one and I truly believe that this is one of the areas that our enemy does the most work in the body of believers. Unity is our goal and anything that can cause division needs to be handled with care. Too often we haven’t handled this issue very well and we’ve allowed the enemy a foothold in our communities and in our hearts.
May Messiah come soon and set ALL THINGS right!!
Much to ponder, and I appreciate yours, and others’, comments upon the issue. I agree, even with the strictly Torah based calander, there are issues, and questions (only from our misunderstanding or lack of info) that cause confusion. And YHWH is NOT the author of confusion!!
I have always agreed, however, that we must agree to disagree, do the best we can, and with the right heart, we will be forgiven for our unintentional sins, and He will show us everything, clear as day, when He returns, and sets up the Kingdom here. I can NOT wait! It will be so refreshing, and freeing to have it all cleared up, so we can get on with living and worshipping as we are supposed to, with NO questions, or confusion any longer. Baruch Hashem YHWH!
Shalom, shavuah tov.
Y
Shalom, this is my first time posting here. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on so many critical topics! I have to say that on this topic, at this point in time, I am inclined to disagree with the position that we should follow the rabbinical calendar. But, I do not judge or condemn those who do…we are each on this path of discovery and there are many grey areas that are difficult to come to a firm position on.
Your article is quite good and pretty convincing on a few levels. I do understand and agree with the point that Yeshua did some things that were “traditional” rather than being in the Torah, implying His acceptance of those practices, and that he did not condemn all of the Pharisees actions, just their hypocrisy, and adding too many burdens. I can see the Karaite’s go a bit too far perhaps in rejecting all oral traditions…throwing the bath out with the bathwater rather than taking the good and leaving the bad….they could be more discerning rather than dogmatic. But also there are plenty of non-Karaite, Messianic JEWISH believers who do not choose to follow the rabbinical calendar, so the accusation that it is gentiles trying to come in and know what’s right doesnt’ really hold up in my view.
There is validity to the concept that after the dispersion of people all over the globe, and without mass communications, a way needed to be devised to have some consistency and avoid confusion. Makes total sense. But, with the 20th century came the solution to that problem, and there was the opportunity for the rabbi’s to decide to obey the Torah now that they COULD. (whether the “witnesses” of the new moon are of a certain type of person who doens’t exist now….show me this as a command in the Torah and i’ll consider it), yet they did not do this. I think perhaps they did not because it is simply inconvenient. Who WANTS to not “know the day or the hour” of the new moon? Who WANTS to have their work schedules and other planning on hold because they dont’ know exactly when the Holy days will be?
Sometimes controversy is good and sometimes it’s not. In this case I think it’s a good thing as long as people are not judgemental . But we are truth-seekers, so if we’re concerned about an issue of how to obey the Torah, the questions and debates will be there. The things that Yeshua did that were traditions were harmless observances that did not in any way detract from the Law, much as many tradtions of Jews and Messianics in observing Passover or other holidays are not really commanded, but are traditions and symbols representing their faith, and if they do not OPPOSE scripture, i’m sure they are fine in YHWH’s eyes. But this is not in that category. YHWH did actually command us to observe the new moons and his feasts on certain days related to the sighting of the new moon in any given month. In fact, for Yom Kippur this is the scripture:
“YHVH spoke to Moses, saying, “On the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall humble your souls and present an offering by fire to YHVH.” Lev. 23:26
Here it seems we are to do our best to be exact. Maybe we will be, maybe we won’t be every time…but it seems to me that the effort must be there, whether or not it’s convenient for us. And maybe, if that’s the “right” way to be (not saying it is for sure)…then this could potentially be a witness to Jews and others of something different about these messianics, who try to obey the Torah despite centuries of traditional practices that were good in their time, but should have been updated when technology allowed for actual obedience.
There is an interesting article by a Jewish messianic, Avram Yehsoshua, on the issue of that verse about the Pharisees sitting in the “seat of Moses”….quite interesting and an alternate view to your interpretation. You can read it here: www(dot)seedofabraham(dot)net/doas(dot)htm
Blessings in Yeshua,
Liz
Liz ~
I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to get to your comment! Life got really busy here and it slipped through the cracks.
I appreciate your comment and I agree with much of it. Having been in the same camp as you in the past, I know what you mean.
But we’ve learned that the only way that non-Jewish believers are ever going to make an impact with our Jewish brothers and sisters who do not yet recognize Yeshua as the Messiah of G-d is if we are respectful of the traditions and the ways that were given to them. We’re the grafted in ones. If we come up and say “Hey, you’ve got the wrong day. Here, let me show you what I mean…” it isn’t received well. KWIM? In our experience with the local Rabbi, that position did more damage than anything else. But each situation is different and each individual will respond differently. We just opted to be respectful to the people group that we are grafted into (though they may not recognize that grafting in at this time).
That being said, we don’t totally disregard the holy days by the lunar calendar. We may not keep 5 Sabbaths within a week’s time during the festivals, but we surely are aware of the holy days according to the moon while we’re observing them by the calendar. It’s a balancing act, to be sure. It’s not always about “convenience”.
I truly believe that the ONLY way those who don’t recognize Yeshua will begin to recognize Him in us is by our humility, our peace, by His holiness shining through us and by our being servants. The calendar stuff is so secondary.
Blessings ~
Lisa
I think you have some good insights but my questions is this? Why are we only looking to Judah for all the answers? There are 12 tribes that we can be grafted into, not just Judah. Yahweh is calling HIS people and revealing to all tribes. He said the Jewish people (Judah) would be blind. Why would we want to unite with people on a calendar who are knowingly blind, denies the Messiah and openly omits they have errors in their calendar and justify it? The real question is are we knowingly walking blindly with Judah?
The Jewish calendar was put together by people from every tribe. After Babylon the Israelites were commonly referred to as “Jews” and we do so even today. Why do we want to honor their calendar? Because these are the people that HaShem gave His Torah to, these are the apple of His eye, these are His chosen ones, these are the ones we are grafted into. For the most part after the first century, the reason that the majority of the Jewish people reject yeshua is because WE have represented Him wrongly and He doesn’t at all resemble the Messiah who walked the earth nearly 2,000 years ago. However, things are changing…
To reject the traditional Jewish calendar is, in our opinion, one of the arrogant and ignorant issues that many Christians need to deal with – and in time it will be made right, when Messiah returns.